Leslie Carter (pictured here looking substantially different than she did back during her attempted pop career) is probably best known as the sister of Nick Carter (out of the Backstreet Boys) and I guess Aaron Carter, but back around the turn of the century, her family made an effort at making her a popstar too, but, for what I understand to be several reasons, it didn't happen. At this point, if you've heard any of her solo musical output, you've probably listened to the Shrek soundtrack and heard her cute bubblegum single "Like Wow!" on it (if you're a fan of super cheery cheesy bubblegum from circa-2000, it's worth checking out). She actually recorded a whole album, though, which was promoed but never actually released to the public, I think.I Need To Hear It From You--kind of the first single from that album, though it didn't get the exposure that "Like Wow!"did. Very 2000-sounding, very much pop through and through (even though, yes, it has some strummy acoustic guitars), though more on the sweet side of 2000 bubblegum pop than in-your-face attitude pop. The last minute and a half on, from the middle 8, is probably the best part--it's built up a little more there, though the song, until the last 45 seconds (OK, yeah, correction/specification: those probably make up my favorite part of the song), always feels slight, just barely hovering on the edge of existence. In kind of a nice change from the usual "I Heard It Through The Grapevine"-esque "just tell me the truth if you're seeing someone else," this is actually a cute song that finds Leslie saying that her friends have told her "that you've been talkin' 'bout me/how I'm your one and only"
As I said, I don't think Leslie's debut album was ever technically released, but you might be able to find a promo copy on eBay. At the least, you can pick up her single "Like Wow" from Amazon here.
Next up: maybe that Finnish song.
