Leighton Meester: Musical Genius

Let's be honest, Leighton Meester is hot shit. The 23-year old actress has captivated us time and again for her work as Gossip Girl's conniving bitch with a heart of gold Miss Blair Waldorf, and she boasts both a guest role in HBO's tool-tinged power hour Entourage and parts in a number of upcoming movies including Date Night alongside Steve Carrell and Tina Fey. More recently, however, the super talented starlet has expressed interests in a musical career, and has plans for an album release later this year.     

Now many a thespian has attempted the actress-turned-singer route, though few have succeeded.  This being said, from the few audio samples we have, I'm willing to make the claim that Leighton not only succeeds, but also does so with grace and charm. To put it simply, she's a musical genius. Allow me to explain myself. My iTunes library currently features five tracks either by or featuring Leighton, and each shares the same inimitable Meester-ious appeal. Leighton's secret lies deep in her mediocrity as a vocalist. Recognizing that her vocal talents are, well... limiting, she plays it safe on every song. The killer instrumentals and her natural allure counterbalance the sensual although relatively unimpressive voice and make the songs instant hits. For those less familiar with Leighton's personal work, Cobra Starship's chart-topping mess "Good Girls Go Bad" serves as a perfect example. The song is quite honestly terrible, but at about 1 minute and 15 seconds in, a beacon of hope floods the listener's ears. Leighton's one verse, which barely spans an octave, serves as a redeeming factor in an otherwise shitty song. Her actress roots shine through and somehow capture the meaning of the song, a tender ballad that explores an adolescent girl's loss of innocence upon meeting a group of ruffians. Weird, but it works.    

On her own, the vocals are similar, and equally charming. Her cover of Kim Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes" surprisingly has less straightforward talking than the original, but this is not to say that Meester's about to upstage Mariah. She just wants to have a good time. About two thirds of her single "Somebody to Love," featuring the remarkably creepy Robin Thicke, is performed in a sultry murmur, and it's still irresistible. And her newest work, the title track from her upcoming album "Your Love's a Drug," is 2 minutes and 45 seconds of synthpop bliss. There may not be any glass-shattering riffs or even the traditional post-bridge power note, but it's clear that this hasn't stopped Meester from creating a hit.    

Perhaps our closest glance at raw Meester comes from her collaboration with Miami electronic duo Awesome New Republic. On her cover of "Birthday," she delves into her falsetto just enough, but knows where to draw the line. It's a little bit like experimenting with blow; it's definitely good and you kind of want more, but you know it's best if you stop before things get out of hand. So next time you feel a hankering for some a little nose candy, resist the urge and spoil your ears instead with a little Leighton.