Philly native Santi White, most commonly known as Santigold, will be swinging through Denver Thursday evening at the Ogden to promote her new album 99¢ (released this February).
The amazing album cover, featuring Santigold vacuum sealed in plastic surrounded by all that colorful crap (closely resembling one of those I SPY books you might remember from your childhood), was shot by famous photographer Haruhiko “Photographer Hal” Kawaguchi. You may recognize his name from VICE’s feature article on the artist from last year, appropriately entitled The Artist Who Puts Couples in Vacuum Packs. That’s right: he actually vacuum seals people. The title of the album also doubles as a price tag on the prepackaged items, as though unearthed from the bottom of a sale bin.
99¢ dances around (but doesn’t necessarily condemn) the observation of modern consumerism. The album combines musical styles from various collaborators (Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend, Dave Sitek from TV on the Radio, Patrik Berger and John Hill), overlaying textures from favored influences (Jamaican, African, hip-hop and punk rock) and all the while combining the elements of satire and empowerment to infuse each tune with social commentary. NPR wrote an great review of 99¢, calling it Santigold’s “finest album to date,” comparing some tracks to dynamic Bowie ballads infused with the disco-rock of LCD Soundsystem and the attitude of Siouxsie Sioux. Hell yeah.
Find Santigold at the Ogden this Thursday, with doors opening at 8pm and music starting around 9pm. Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the door.
Check out the official video for Can’t Get Enough of Myself, which not-so-subtly pokes fun at our tendency towards self absorption and self promotion in the fine age of social media: