'Obsessed' with Amanda Zelina

Because of where I live, I sometimes forget it’s possible there are people in their 20s who still actually listen to and love the classics.

I got a note the other day from a 22-year-old singer/songwriter named Amanda Zelina. Amanda has, on her Website, a podcast that she opens with Ray Charles, followed by Humble Pie. You gotta love that.

I mention this because Amanda is about to release her debut, Love Me till I’m Me Again, an album grounded in vintage R&B and American folk/country.

“Obsessed,” the first single from the album, is a love song about the good kind of obsession (“No one’s ever touched me so intimately...”). Musically, the song echoes Tom Waits, whom Amanda calls one of her main inspirations. Waits’ influence is the “reason as to why she constructs her songs and lyrics the way she does,” according to her bio, “giving each utmost attention and raw primal fearlessness whilst illustrating a touching story that raises empathy in the listener.”

Obsessed.mp3