# Is there a name for this hyper-annoying singing style? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2014, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704 "2014-01-02T15:55:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/243 "2016-07-13T21:16:38Z")
> [@Cigardener](#): > > Another new registration brought in by a Google search: “where did this breathy baby-doll female vocal style come from?”, prompted by Grace Vanderwaal. > > I used to like it; I still find it somewhat appealing, but have grown tired of all the wannabees who use the affectation so extremely and self-consciously. CocoRosie, for example. > > Several years ago, when it first started emerging in it’s current form, I thought the songs I was hearing were all the same vocalist and I kind of liked it. It was cute and girlish, but sexy in a wholesome, fresh, innocent way. I could understand the animal appeal. > > If I may, I think there are a few elements that need to be present to call something the Indie-Pop-Waif sound: intermittent breathiness, a rounding of vowels, and an either natural or affected tween-age voice, combined with a sort of Gelfling cuteness. > > I think I know how the style evolved; I wouldn’t want to draw a flow chart, but I think this is where the elements came from. It looks like a revival of “baby-pop”, a sort of which has been going strong in Japan for quite a while with the whole “Lolita” thing. > > I believe [Melanie Safka (1968)](https://youtu.be/nSiG_Y7XwK4) pioneered this particular breed of childlike innocence. Unless you want to count [France Gall (1965)](https://youtu.be/s3RwVOSpcVo). > > [The Cranberries (1993)](https://youtu.be/G6Kspj3OO0s) lent the Irish hard R’s and round vowels, and [Björk (1993)](https://youtu.be/7Z5aPaDwAkU) added some peculiar Icelandic accents to the emerging sound. > > If I had to commit, I’d say the current phenomenon probably started with Björk, and it just snowballed from there, with successive artists imitating and exaggerating it more and more, till you have bizarre chimeras like CocoRosie and Joanna Newsom. There was another woman I heard about 5 or 6 years ago, but I can’t remember her name. Something Italian, maybe. Sang about sunshine or daydreams or such. [Emiliana Torrini’s “Sunny Road”?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyuL1z2tejs) Great song. While I’ve defended the style, I agree that CocoRosie is a bit much. (Same with Newsom, and I wonder if Samberg is ever tempted to mock her.) In general, I like your definition and musical forensic “flow chart”, but once again: what about Blossom Dearie? She predates everyone you mentioned. > [@EllisDee](#): > > Jesus Christ, you’re not kidding. I somehow missed this post the first time around, so up until just now I was blissfully unaware that men also perpetrate this atrocity. > > I’d never heard of Passenger, and just now I happened to be checking out the video for [Let Her Go](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBumgq5yVrA). It starts off promising; I was thinking this might be one of those popular “hidden gems” that everyone else knew about but went under my radar. > > Then, at 26 seconds into the song, I ran from the room screaming and lit myself on fire. > > NOOOOOOOO!!! Yeah, that doesn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/244 "2016-07-17T16:19:33Z")
I was listening to some talk radio this morning and then, for an interlude, they played “New Soul” by Yael Naim. I think that it falls beautifully into this horrific category. Yael Naim And while listening I had an epiphone. A lot of this stuff sounds like children's music -happy, light, comforting etc, and I started wondering if this is music designed for the "safe space" generation. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/245 "2016-07-17T16:40:22Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > And while listening I had an epiphone. Perfect typo for this topic. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/246 "2016-07-17T16:45:34Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Perfect typo for this topic. I would like to claim credit for a brilliant pun but I honestly thought that that was the word and that there was a point to the musical instrument manufacturer’s name (I even have one of their guitars). Well, lesson learned.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/247 "2016-07-17T17:44:53Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > They are compensating because they can’t sing. This is what I came in to say. ---
**Author:** ![BrainPolice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@BrainPolice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainPolice)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2016, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/248 "2016-09-03T03:28:53Z")
I too joined this message board after bumping into this thread from a google search. What I typed into google was more general though: “indie folk sucks” and “indie sucks”. What’s talked about in this thread is one aspect out of many that bugs me about what I would call the generic trendy sound of contemporary “indie”, especially on the folky and poppy end of “indie”. The problem is that for most cases, it’s just a put on and is something copied as a style without people truly developing their own sound. There are plenty of parallels to this in other styles of music and not just as a question of singing. For example, it is cliche to me as a guitar player that there are legions of white blues or blues/rock players who go out of their way to sound just like Stevie Ray Vaughn. Then you have the Hendrix clones. What’s grating to me about this is that it’s all a put-on act in which the person has focused so much on being just like someone else that they exude a serious lack of authenticity and personal creativity. They’re _trying too hard_ to sound a certain way. Same with the waify-indie-chick-singing. To some extent, the very nature of any genre involves imitation of one’s influences. You could say “it all sounds the same” toward just about any genre. However, some contexts are more egregious about this than others, and when we are talking about commercialized popular music in the modern age, there is a much more intense trend of “generic-ness” in which everything is produced to sound the same and artists go out of their way to cater to what is perceived to be the “hip” sound. Hence legions of artists with this “waify” female vocal style and the “whiny” male vocal style, and legions of generic sounding folk-pop and indie-rock groups that all meld into a tapestry of annoyance to my ears. My issue isn’t simply that I find this vocal style an annoying trend, but I find the musical content of much of what is being called “indie” to be an annoying and generic trend. I also think it involves a low barrier to entry for talent. To some extent, what is going on here is simply that _the sound of people who just can’t sing that well or play their instruments that well_ has been normalized as a trend. It was perhaps a little more cute and authentic in the 80’s and early 90’s when it genuinely was just post-punk rockers doing their thing, and then some of them becoming famous more by accident than design. Then by the mid and late 90’s it became a commercial trend. People do it to be cool and to give off a vibe (a vibe that’s prefabricated). So I will take solace, as a good music elitist, in my jazz, fusion, progressive rock, and classical music. ---
**Author:** ![Lacy\_Loy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce73a5/32.png) [@Lacy\_Loy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacy_Loy)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/249 "2016-09-26T04:53:56Z")
I have had the same opinion for a while now but didn’t know how to describe the voice. I was just trying to explain this to a friend and simply googled “tired of female singers who sound like” in hopes I’d find someome else who could help me explain. Sure enough 4 results down was this magical post from a fellow hater! Sadly Grace Vanderwaal, the 12-year-old who won the newest America’s Got Talent sounds like this in her song “I Don’t Know My Name”. She’s really talented and kind of has her own style in some songs but sadly she’s fallen victim to influences that sing like this. “Oy doint knoy moy name”! If there is a god, please make this stop! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Perisphere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@Perisphere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perisphere)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/250 "2016-10-01T23:32:19Z")
Oh no, I hear you say…not _another_ whackjob that joined here due to this bleedin’ thread! But I saw a link via the Steve Hoffman Music Forum, so maybe I have a little credibility after all. Agreed with everything here about the melismarrhea and all those shaky singers as well. (Have heard the version of ‘Baby it’s cold outside’ with Cerys Matthews and Tom Jones, and it’s about as easy to take as a toothache.) I wonder what you think of this singer? She died 17 years ago today, suffered for years with many of the same things that plagued Karen Carpenter. She namechecked Shirley Bassey as a favourite singer when Johnny Carson had her on the Tonight Show in 1974 at age 10. Lena Zavaroni, who sounded like anything but a waif despite her tiny size (4’10" fully grown)… At age eleven: [Lena Zavaroni Sings "My Funny Valentine" - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2UvRNAz4xg) At age 16: [Lena Zavaroni Sings 'EVEN NOW' 1980 - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFwXgduxCUc) ---
**Author:** ![Perisphere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@Perisphere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perisphere)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/251 "2016-10-01T23:33:36Z")
(Accidental repeat post.) ---
**Author:** ![Shooby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f475e1/32.png) [@Shooby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shooby)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/252 "2016-10-04T12:00:05Z")
I tend to like this style of music, and I also have been looking through this thread for recommendations - thanks haters! I’m looking forward to see how Grace Vanderwhal matures as an artist and finds her own voice. To be fair, I think there’s a ton of a crap in this style of indie/indie-pop, but not any more so than in any other genre of music. I guess some of you may actually hate the entire genre, but that would mean missing out on the Regina Spektors of the world, which makes me legitimately sad for you. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/253 "2016-10-04T15:24:46Z")
For the twee-spotters keeping track in their log books, here’s a perfect specimen I spotted in the wild while browsing indie-radio stuff… [Nuevelle Vague](http://www.indieshuffle.com/the-buzzcocks-ever-fallen-in-love-nouvelle-vague-cover/) ---
**Author:** ![iceiso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@iceiso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iceiso)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/254 "2016-10-04T16:42:19Z")
Fellow dopers, do you consider this song by Birdy to fit the mold? I won’t lie, I do like this song while being annoyed by the typical “wispy” nature of the others. Perhaps it’s that she utilizes a wider range, but I can’t put my finger on it. Less wispy maybe? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/aNzCDt2eidg/maxresdefault.jpg "Birdy - Skinny Love (Official Music Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNzCDt2eidg) ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/255 "2016-10-04T17:19:50Z")
[quote=“iceiso, post:254, topic:677704”] Fellow dopers, do you consider this song by Birdy to fit the mold? I won’t lie, I do like this song while being annoyed by the typical “wispy” nature of the others. Perhaps it’s that she utilizes a wider range, but I can’t put my finger on it. Less wispy maybe? [/QUOTE] I’d vote no, that it doesn’t fit the mold. It doesn’t have the odd phrasing, weird pronunciation of common words or breathy/whiny verbal characteristics. I don’t really like that song much, but her version doesn’t strike me as having the annoying affectation that draws so many to this thread. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/256 "2016-10-04T17:25:43Z")
[quote=“iceiso, post:254, topic:677704”] Fellow dopers, do you consider this song by Birdy to fit the mold? I won’t lie, I do like this song while being annoyed by the typical “wispy” nature of the others. Perhaps it’s that she utilizes a wider range, but I can’t put my finger on it. Less wispy maybe? [/QUOTE] I think she gets a pass from this thread…she has a high-pitched voice, but she is genuinely projecting and singing, not cloaking herself under that breathy low-projection style. There’s is also a minimum of falsely rounding out the enunciation of the vowels with that fake coffeehouse accent. edit: Ninja’d by Orwell ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/257 "2016-10-07T03:01:35Z")
I remember when indie was the neo punk/new wave groups ---
**Author:** ![Future\_Mrs.Mael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/87869e/32.png) [@Future\_Mrs.Mael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Future_Mrs.Mael)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/258 "2016-10-29T12:57:04Z")
Oh gosh, you do **NOT** know how thankful I am for this thread. You all are great. Anyway, I feel like [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hkrk3lFVuQE) belongs here. It feels a lot like a subtype of this singing style: though it isn’t as whispery, it still obnoxiously parades that breathy “oh” and waifish twang. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/259 "2016-10-29T16:39:47Z")
[quote=“iceiso, post:254, topic:677704”] Fellow dopers, do you consider this song by Birdy to fit the mold? I won’t lie, I do like this song while being annoyed by the typical “wispy” nature of the others. Perhaps it’s that she utilizes a wider range, but I can’t put my finger on it. Less wispy maybe? [/QUOTE] I hate this. She sings weird and has marbles in her mouth, but she doesn't fit this particular style of waifish singing. It's something else annoying entirely. > [@Future\_Mrs.Mael](#): > > Oh gosh, you do **NOT** know how thankful I am for this thread. You all are great. > Anyway, I feel like [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hkrk3lFVuQE) belongs here. > It feels a lot like a subtype of this singing style: though it isn’t as whispery, it still obnoxiously parades that breathy “oh” and waifish twang. I got four seconds into this before I had to stop it. Good find! ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/260 "2016-10-29T17:19:33Z")
> [@Future\_Mrs.Mael](#): > > Oh gosh, you do **NOT** know how thankful I am for this thread. You all are great. > Anyway, I feel like [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hkrk3lFVuQE) belongs here. > It feels a lot like a subtype of this singing style: though it isn’t as whispery, it still obnoxiously parades that breathy “oh” and waifish twang. I don’t know if that song is supposed to be funny or not, but it sure made me laugh to beat the band. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/261 "2016-10-29T17:49:27Z")
You know, that waifish, breathy singing is pretty much the way Marilyn Monroe sang, except it was Marilyn Monroe, and no one really cared what she sounded like-- and she did manage to make it sexy. (Kinda like how Marlene Dietrich could make terrible, off-key rasping sound very, very sexy.) Anyway, is it possible that someone, somewhere in time, completely missed the point of why people liked Marilyn Monroe’s performances? and tried to sing all breathy and high pitched, without any sexiness whatsoever? Because what the OP finds annoying is what you’d end up with. And the adjective I see most often for Monroe’s voice is “kittenish,” (or just plain breathy) but I’m not sure that entirely captures what he is looking for. I think “waifish” is better. I know this thread is a zombie, but it’s been awake a while, and it’s young for a zombie. If I wanted to describe what the OP finds annoying, I’d just call it “high-pitched and breathy.” Not pithy, but accurate. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/262 "2016-10-29T18:04:50Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I know this thread is a zombie, but it’s been awake a while, and it’s young for a zombie. If I wanted to describe what the OP finds annoying, I’d just call it “high-pitched and breathy.” Not pithy, but accurate. It’s also, and for me moreso, the over-affectation in the phrasing and sudden timbre shifts on certain words/syllables. The OP’s third song linked is a bit outside of that style, but the first, second, and fourth all have that which grates on me. Same with **Future Mrs. Mael** ’s nomination for the thread. Doesn’t have the waify, breathy thing going on as much, but the over-emphasized indie quirk sound is there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704.md?page=14)