As she stares into the camera it is easy to see that Canadian
Shawnee "She King" Talbot means business. It isn't surprising
really, seeing as her name means "fighter". She took up her Dad's
guitar when she was younger and learnt about her musical gift,
which led to Shawnee forming She King in 2009. They are not,
however, a struggling indie band; Shawnee was soon nominated for
her vocal performance in the Toronto Music Indie Awards as best
female lead singer.
The lyrics in She King's new single, Mirror Me, are deep and
sentimental; the song seems to be searching for nostalgia in the
same way Shawnee is searching for herself in the mirror. However,
as she sings the line "tell me something that I want to hear" in
her breathlessly powerful voice, all I can think about are the many
things I would like to say to her… if you get what I mean.
It might be sentimental, but She King produce punchy, powerful
pop. And damn it's good. Mirror Me focuses on what could be
Shawnee's own coming-of-age experience, or should that be coming
out? In an interview in 2010, when asked what keeps her interested
in the business, Shawnee replied "the girls". Hmmm.
Many queers love a good old identity crisis, and I know that
I've spent hours in front of a mirror trying to find who I am.
That's perhaps why I feel that I can relate to She King, I know
what she's trying to say and it's none of that age old Disney "who
is the fairest" stuff either. The song represents the true grit of
struggling with your identity, finding out that growing up isn't
all it's cracked up to be and the longing for your childhood. But
hey, look at you Shawnee "She King" Talbot, things aren't so bad!
You get to drive around looking frea-King (see what I did there?)
gorgeous, doing a spot of motivational speaking and writing for
other artists, and some have even described you as a new leader for
empowerment. I'd say that's pretty good going! Oh, and not to
mention that you can sing, like, really sing.
As far as I can tell, Mirror Me also reflects She King's
contempt for the "business", i.e. the make-up, the pampering, the
hair styles that are part of the music industry whether you want it
or not. In the video she sits wearing leopard print, in a pink
themed room with lots of variations of pink around as two women
fuss over her. She isn't happy about this (the fussing, that is;
we're unsure how she feels about the women) and instead opts for
her yellow DM's, beanie hat and military style jacket to complete
the video. I don't blame you either Shawnee, though having said
that, you look good either way!
shekingmusic.com
