Laleh Vänta

Me and Simon is as clever a piece of pop as could be asked for, meaning that it camouflages itself as not pop at all. Laleh does a convincing impression of a singer/songwriter girl – acoustic guitar, a voice dripping with sincerity (smartly pushed to the forefront in the mix), and well-thought-out lyrics. She likes to play a naïve and slightly sad outsider with immigrant roots, exaggerating this persona on the opening track where she wonders, "is this what they call big city love?" singing in a cute accent (absent from other songs) over Middle Eastern strings.