2004-07 Elle

FEMALE PERSUASION

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Of diverse descent-and with radically distinct musical styles-young singers Cherie, Regina Spektor, and Rachael Yamagata couldn't be more different if they tried. What unites them? Imminent stardom

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[...]

After seeing a Regina Spektor (center) show, Strokes front man Julian Casablancas was so smitten that he invited the singer to record the duet "Modern Girls & Old Fashion Men" and took her on tour. He didn't even mind sharing his producer for her album, Soviet Kitsch. (Spektor was still negotiating with U.S. labels at press time for a late- summer release.) The daughter of Russian émigrés, Spektor is a classically trained pianist who had her first lesson at four and moved to New York when she was nine. She's often dubbed antifolk-she has the quirkiness of Björk, the cool of Cat Power, and shots of piano virtuosity à la Tori Amos. Like those gutsy artists, Spektor, 24, wouldn't use her femininity to promote her album. "Good art has nothing to do with gender," she says. "I relate more to Nirvana than to Jewel."

[...] —DEANNA KIZIS