Sally Seltmann Rises Above Pop Writing Success

“I kind of just felt like going by my real name.” Crystal clear and glimmering with self-content, Sally Seltmann is back with a valiant and charming new record from down under. Warming the pop waters as the classically inspired New Buffalo, “Heart That’s Pounding” is the third album from this delicate songwriter. And with the same cascading organs and sweeping winsome as before, Sally is stronger, wiser and in a place of her own.

“ I was hiding behind a name before and now I’m comfortable with where I am in my life. It feels like New Buffalo was a just one of my musical projects.”

Hailing from the most tropical of the commonwealth nations, Sally is beach blonde as Regina is metropolized. “I think its pretty engrained in me to think more about classically arranged music, but I still play around with some electronics and things.”

Orchestral and fringing upon waltz, “Set Me Free” is a colloquial ballad of independence. Shaping the voice that sets this project apart from her previous work, while opening track and first single “Harmony To My Heartbeat” and danceable “Dreaming About Change” weep with pop maturity and are catchy as hell.

“I’m quite interested in women being seen as strong and powerful without trying to be like men. I would hope that comes across a little bit in my music.”

Whether a motion of solidarity, romantic devotion or other, Sally’s name change brings to light the relationship with her husband, Avalanches guitarist Darren Seltmann. Currently playing drums on her North American tour, the two continue to sculp their musical parallels and look forward to co-production in the future.

“I used to try to be really musically independent from Darren, but now I just really enjoy working with him. We both love music and we’re both really creative with other sorts of things in our life too, so why not.”

To date, and beguiling commonality, Sally is the brain behind Feist’s 2007 award winning anthem, “1,2,3,4″. At a time in her career when songs were plentifully scripted, Sally thought it was a song  “that she might like to sing, it was a time when I was writing a lot, and it wasn’t very hard for me to let it go. I feel really lucky that she liked it.”

A chivalrous approach to the gleaming fixtures of contemporary pop music,  “Heart That’s Pounding” is a Joni Mitchell pop fusion and behind this awe inspiring folkloress, is a classical persuasion of challenging and tasteful arrangements that damsels the world’s most fruitful distresses.

Catch Sally this Friday at Supermarket as a part of The Agency Group NXNE Showcase. And follow @pinkmafia4life this week for a chance to win a copy of “Heart That’s Pounding” available now through itunes and at the online Arts & Crafts store.

Words Katherine Alicia Snack