Old Blue Eyes’ pop-diva goddaughter speaks in triple negatives, gets triply-funky on second major-label release
Four years ago, during the zenith of those bleak boy-band, Britney-and-Christina days of mindless-pop domination—days when I not only disliked, but actually feared accidentally landing on MTV and VH1 while channel surfing—Nikka Costa’s soft, funky breakthrough hit “Like a Feather” was one of the few bright spots that shone through the shitstream of Top 40 radio. For those not clued-in—Costa is kind of Macy Gray-ish crossed with a post-Purple Rain/pre-Jehovah’s Witness Prince kind of thing, but you know… white. Her latest—with its punchy porn-funk guitar, tribal percussion loops, soulful riff rock, steamroller vocals, and cameos by ?uestlove and Jon Brion—finds her instantly accessible sound evolving at a satisfying pace.