Chanteuse /shahn’ters/, n. (Fr.) Singer, esp. nightclub singer. Esp. singer - in smoky, red velvet type nightclub - of songs about love lost and found…and lust.

Hello, and thanks for visiting my space. I recently released my second album ('Chanteuse') and it's really got me thinking. How did this all start? I'm pretty sure that when I started out, I just wanted to be a popstar.  I released my debut - an album of pop tunes - and while it had its successes (read on later for all the 'achievement' stuff) somewhere along the way I discovered the excitement of just being creative and expressive for its own sake. Who would've thought! That 'popstar' ambition seems a million miles away. Now, don't think that doesn't mean I don't want to be successful, or that staying in my room and singing into a tape recorder will be enough to make me happy...But what it does mean is that I'm going to make music that I love, that makes me feel good, even if it's not 'cool', 'radio-friendly', 'targetted' to the right 'market' etc. I'm going to perform the way I want to and make music that moves me. So now I'm going to throw myself off that creative cliff, with nothing but my muse to keep me afloat and hope that you may be there with open arms and mind to make my landing a little bit softer. And if you're not, I know that I still did the right thing because I've had a ball making this album and I think it's the most 'me ' of anything I've ever done. I hope you'll give it a listen. First of all, check out Amanda's latest filmclip:

OK, now over to the PR people:

Flame-haired Sydney artist Amanda Easton releases ‘Chanteuse’ – the follow up to the self-titled debut which delivered two Top 10 indie chart tunes and radio play nation-wide. It still features the contagious pop we’ve come to expect from Amanda. But this is a theatrical pop album with chilled-out electronic beats with a tinge of blues and even disco at times. It's romantic and sexy - retro torch songs with a smoky nightclub modern edge. It's heavily influenced by her love of jazz.  Resonant double-bass and emotive muted trumpets sit alongside electronic loops and electric guitars showcasing Amanda’s rich soaring vocals in a more emotional, mature second album.

The latest review of Amanda's 'Chanteuse': "This girl can sing, but the most amazing thing about Amanda’s singing prowess is how she can tackle such different styles and win every time.

Hearing Amanda’s first album once I realised that she had, in fact, made two albums already under her own name and wasn’t just a talented backing singer who deserved to make albums of her own, was no great surprise. It was an album of pretty perfect pop but with that added bonus of Easton vocals; in a world full of wannabe female vocalists here was one that could do it for real. But that didn’t prepare me, nor any others I’ll bet, for this roller coaster of an album that Amanda has just released called ‘Chanteuse’.

...Amanda is on top form throughout and in composing or co-composing every one of the 12 songs here ( some with Simon Morel ) she proves that not only is she one of the best female singers we have but also an accomplished composer too.

Not for Amanda the little-girl-lost vocals which many female singers use and she doesn’t need to shout and bawl to get her point across, here is a singer who sounds strong, confident, sassy , sexy and in control of everything. She takes you into that smoky club, complete with red velvet seats; she’s up on that stage and you’re hanging onto every word that she sings. And I’m sitting here in a small room in Sweden on a cold, rainy Sunday afternoon so that’s some achievement. While it’s all too easy for a good author to be able to transport you to another place and time it’s not so easy for someone to do that just by singing in a certain style but Amanda does it time and again on this album.

If I was told at the beginning of this year that by the half way mark one the albums I’d played most this year was going to be an album of torch-type songs made by an Australian female singer and produced by one of my favourite musicians/producers I would not have believed you. But that’s yet another good thing about the music that Amanda makes; never expect the expected." Malcolm Carter, PennyBlack Music

 PopTarts - female music showcases

Perhaps best known as a ‘PopTart’, Amanda has performed with hundreds of different singer songwriters and bands at that weekly Sydney showcase night promoting original female-fronted music acts over the last six years.  PopTarts is an ever-growing network of female-fronted bands and female singer-songwriters. Amanda is 'Queen of Tarts', having started the Community almost six years ago. Their new home is at The Unity Hall Hotel in Darling Street Balmain in Sydney. Keep in the loop, join our PopTarts Blog and visit our PopTarts MySpace Page...

PopTarts are on the Tele! Amanda is host and Exec Producer. It's on TVS (Television Sydney UHF Channel 31) every Tuesday until the end of 2008. But you can also watch it below:

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(OK - back to me!) Amanda is also one of the most in demand backing vocalists in Sydney, having toured regularly with Wendy Matthews and Richard Clapton, performed with Powderfinger and Candice Alley at the ARIA Awards and sung alongside artists such as Vanessa Amarosi, Marcia Hines and James Reyne.

The Album -'Chanteuse'

‘Chanteuse’ is available through MGM Distribution - that means you can buy it - or order it - from just about any record shop in Aus and from all the download stores like iTunes of course. Or download from www.amandaeaston.com

DJ Collaborations

Recently she has been delving into the world of electronic music and guested as vocalist on Ian Betts' 'Love Resurrection' released on Masif Records. She's also worked as a vocalist and co-writer with DJs of the likes of DJ Weaver, Liquid M, Damien Goundrie (CoLab) and Steve Hill and performed live at clubs all across Australia, including the support for the trance world's cult DJ artist, Armin Van Buuren. ..and she's always looking to work with more professional DJs in the studio and on the stage.

Her own singles have received airplay on major commercial radio and TV including NOVA 96.9, 2Day fm, Rove TV show, the Today Show, Channel V, MTV and regional radio stations Australia-wide. The Liquid M remix of her single Falling In was a rotation favourite on Sydneys NOVA 96.9fm.

The CDs

>Check out more at www.amandaeaston.com, You can hear sweet samples (and even buy the lot) or Amanda's 2 albums at iTunes..or if you prefer the plastic, simply press here to go to CD Baby's store.