Banshees

Ida Maria Borli Sivertsen was a complete unknown until a few years ago when she won a couple of Norwegian talent competitions, making her huge in Oslo. What's given Maria a surprising amount of buzz elsewhere, besides shortening her name to the punchier Ida Maria (pronounced Ee-dah Muh-ree-uh), is a reputation for staggeringly drunk live performances and rumors, often whispered for effect, that she has one of those voices. I can't speak to her stage persona--she cites Iggy Pop as an influence, though eyewitnesses report Dudley Moore--but Maria's voice will stop you in your earbuds. At 24, she sings with a...