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Charlotte Sometimes is quite the conniving housewife. At least when she could just kill a man, she is. Her sultry croon, upbeat music and cutesy, apron-focused stage outfits are deceiving, in a way.
Charlotte Sometimes is the stage name of Jessica Poland, a musician from just outside of New York who has seemingly created her own genre of upbeat Alternative/Indie. The first single off her debut album, 'Waves and the Both of Us' obviously was inspired by a not-so-great guy. The music video for the song, entitled, 'How I Could Just Kill a Man,' depicts Sometimes killing a cheating boyfriend in multiple ways—all while keeping her '50s housewife apron clean and a smile on her face.
The dark lyrics are covered by a blanket of sweet stage presence and a gorgeous, full-of-life brand of murmuring pop. 'Sometimes' wasn't mistaken in this venture - or in acting like a housewife.
"[The idea] is definitely intentional. I think it's really fun to play on that, women's role kind of thing. [Laughs] So I try to dress like a housewife to prove a point. And the point is to get people to question things. And all the stuff that I do...like Charlotte, my character, is completely housewifey but does everything wrong. Like the kind of person that is really vindictive and has all these crazy personalities. You know, she [has] this appearance on the outside, with the apron, but then she's cheating on her husband with your husband down the block," says Sometimes.
"So, it's just fun to kind of create a character, and it's kind of based off of Bewitched, the way she has these magical powers, and her husband, even though he loved her because she had these magical powers, he was always trying to hide them from the world. So I'm really kind of trying to be Samantha's breakthrough [Laughs]. So that's kind of how my '50s idea came about."
Not all of the songs are about boys that break hearts, though. Like every album, 'Waves and the Both of Us' ventures onto multiple ideas and relationships for the songwriter.
"The whole album isn't about a guy. But there's definitely a big chunk that has to do with one particular person. I think people misinterpret that...I wrote the songs from [age] 15 and on. So they were [about] more than one guy that I dated and wrote," says Sometimes.
"So there's a big chunk of it that's about one specific person, but there's like 2 or 3 that are either an idea about someone or about other relationships. So there's a few [songs] about guys, and also about personal experiences that have nothing to do with guys."
Before becoming part of a band, the singer was a dancer, and this trend carries onto a few of the songs. The R&B-infused, "AEIOU" is definitely made for carrying a beat along to—another intentional move on the part of the band.
"I was a dancer growing up for like, 13 years, and I really love dance music, and having fun. And I also love jazzy kind of stuff like Billie Holiday. So I really wanted to create kind of a mix on that song and just have fun," says Sometimes. "And it was one of the fun, kind of sarcastic songs, for young girls to like, sing along to, in their car, while they're driving and talking about some crazy guy, you know? It's also a way to make light of a situation. I thought that was a really fun song and it was definitely on purpose."
The album was released in May, and since then, the band has toured in support of it, both on Warped Tour and a variety of other supporting shows. When tours aren't happening, though, Sometimes keeps busy with her blog, Foreversometimes.com, where she posts some of the large numbers of songs she writes that may not make the next album, as well as random thoughts.
"I have over 60 new songs right now, so I write a lot of songs. These songs aren't really a promise of what you should expect for the next record, because I kind of just write whatever. I have so many different ideas for the next album, and I have so many songs, so it could go any...I just explore different genres of music, and different directions. So if I'm feeling something, and I'm not sure if it's going to make the record, I'll post it on my blog so it at least has some sort of life to it," says Sometimes. "I think a lot of people feel good about it. And then it's so raw, and it's like, how I'm feeling that day, and it's definitely another way to get to know me. More of a songwriter and a personable person than a performer, you know?"
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