识kt tunstall是因她的一首打榜歌曲<other side of the world>，歌曲旋律的前一小段，其质感简直是与coldplay如出一辙，所不同的是渐入高潮时kt是释放式的，这点与chris自始至终压制住的假声略有不同。 于是在点点好奇心的驱使下，查阅了一下kt的资料，而让我颇感意外的是，她的确与coldplay出于同门。 而赋有戏剧性的是kt的首张专辑<eye to the telescope>将与coldplay的<x&y>一同入围了今年的mercury prize提名。 依旧保持水准而颇具口碑的<x&y>、出生牛犊的<eye to the telescope>究竟花落谁家（当然获得提名的共有12张专辑），我到是很愿意把自己心里的那一票投给kt，纵然是万般揣测也要等到揭晓的那一刻才见得分晓了。 也许从kt的这张脸上我们很难辨认出她拥有1/4中国人的血统，kt的祖母是中国人，而她则从小被苏格兰古镇st. andrew的一个家庭领养，kt的养父母虽经常外出，但kt的童年还算在快乐中度过，而时常从哥哥房间里飘出来的重金属乐，却成为了kt与音乐的第一次接触。 kt年初的首支单曲black horse&the cherry tree的成绩并不算太过显赫，仅排名28，然而我想说也许这样的成绩多半是由于曲风的缘由，随后又放出一首other side of the world，很明显这是kt主动向主流讨好的歌曲，顺利跻身英伦的top 10。 而在伦敦地铁站里kt的大幅宣传海报得以与athlete、chemical brothers等当红乐手一同张贴出，也足以证明初出茅庐的kt，显然已是巨星派头了。 在两支打榜单曲相继发布后，kt的第一张个人专辑<eye to the telescope>也于今年问世。 而各大家媒体也都对本张专辑给予了四星的高评价。 kt将首张专辑的创作录制选在了威尔特郡森林里的小型录音间，kt说“能尽情畅快地从山坡上唱到山坡下，在这么自然的环境下录音是再好也不过了，这真是个可以令人解放的世外桃源。 歌里面描述的多半是日常生活的琐事、就好比我平日与人对话一般的平实，若夸张一点的说，就彷彿是外星人远到地球采取人类的情感样本，并将之串连予以整理纪录一般。” 而整张专辑品下来，也不得不说kt的确是个唱功不俗的声优，而且创作实力了得。 而kt的歌曲中并不会有太过复杂的配乐，基本都是吉他为主。 而专辑中我们却分明可以听出两种迥异的曲风，一种是流畅的英伦吉他流行乐，例如主打曲other side of the world。 另一种则是充满了原著民色彩的跳跃旋律，极具感染力，充分展现了kt奔放、不羁的歌喉，而在部分歌曲的旋律中大量三连音及切分的运用，也表现出了kt呼之欲出的jazz乐感。 但显然此类崇尚民族特色的旋律，英伦的主流并不太买帐，这也难怪black horse&the cherry tree的打榜成绩并不理想了。 也许是唱片公司看好了kt的发展潜力，看得出来在宣传造势上砸了不少银子，使得媒体对这颗英伦新星宠爱有佳，更是将其捧到了“可以与同门师姐joss stone、norah jones、dido等乐坛大姐媲美”这样的高度。 笑笑便罢，把鸡和羊比作同类，这种事情常常出自媒体之手。 而究竟是鸡是羊，是优是劣，相信品过之后，你心里自然就会有了一把尺子。 也非常希望今年的mercury全英音乐大奖可以垂青于这匹女黑马（今年的mercury提名只有两位女性艺人）。

After the surprise international success of her 2005 debut, Eye to the Telescope, there were two ways that KT Tunstall could have gone: she could have succumbed to its sleepy, serious undercurrents, bringing herself closer to Dido, or she could have pursued the brighter, poppier inclinations of its singles "Black Horse & the Cherry Tree" and "Suddenly I See." A quick glance at the cover of her 2007 follow-up, Drastic Fantastic, leaves little doubt of which path she chose. The singer/songwriter, who was pictured in a pensive pose on the U.K. cover of her debut and in a stark black-and-white photo on the U.S. release, is decked out in a white dress and high-heeled boots, sporting a giant silver-spangled electric guitar, on the cover of Drastic Fantastic. She clearly has gone pop, but she's done so without sacrificing her subtle skills as a writer, for as splashy as the sound of this album is, it isn't just about sound: it's built on songs that are alternately grabbing and insinuating, songs that are as memorable as the sweetly polished production, and more lasting as well. Drastic Fantastic may be as candied as any good adult pop record should be, but it doesn't stay in one place; it bounces between sparkly, insistent pop, sweet and gentle slow tunes, songs that rework the "Black Horse" rhythm, and tunes that are stripped down to her and a guitar. In a time where singer/songwriters are long on bloodletting emotion but short on musicality, this variety is a relief, as is Tunstall's unabashed embrace of being a mainstream troubadour — and it's not a sell-out, either, because the songs are strong and beneath that glossy veneer, there is genuine emotion here. These are the elements that make Drastic Fantastic a rare beast: a pop album with a songwriter's heart, and one that works on both levels.