Everybody Wants to be in Love

Sweet and sultry, innocent and sexy, musky and pure...this woman has it all. Fleurtini is the voice of Sweet Tooth...the sweetest new voice to hit the airwaves...or e-waves...what have you.This is the voice I would have if I could sing. This voice teases you and leads you to enjoyment...it makes you ponder on the realities of your life...it makes you feel what you wanted to forget...and remember what (sometimes) is best left forgotten.

What is love? Why does everybody want it? When you watch the video (created by sheepfilms, illustrations by Aaron Bevan-Bailley) you understand a little of what attraction love has. Fleurtini says all of the references in the song are actual events she has witnessed. How beautiful! Here is a woman who can recognize what is important to others...and, celebrate the likeness and difference of each individual love. Someone who can recognize our needs, loving and non-judgemental, celebrating the sameness and alienation of each of us.

What is love though...this elusive emotion that I never (until recently) really believed in. Why does everybody want to be in love? Love was ever a disappointing part of my life. But her song makes me wonder. "Don't Give Up", she sings. It makes me wonder...Why is it that....

Everybody Wants To Be In Love?

(Hammond/Gilbert)

Muddy old man, hiding in his hood
Hunched in the shadows reading a book on Marilyn
Smiling to himself.

Pan-stick punk in black on black
Big buckled boots and a little pink rat called Josephine
Always by his side.

Everybody wants to be in love.

London lad, he’s all loved up
Lying face down in the rain and kissing the sidewalk
So passionately.

Teenage mama, pushing a pram
Dragging on a cigarette, hollers at her boyfriend
“Johnny, were have you been?”

Everybody wants to be in love…

Two sweet boys, so entwined
Make time stand still in the middle of Hoxton Square
Kissing in a wheelchair.

High Road Rasta man, waiting for a cab
Sings to his lady in the chill of a crazy night
“Don’t give up the fight…”

Everybody wants to be in love…

I must admit, I love this woman's songs. The songs have a sensual feel, that is respectful and sexy all at the same time. Listening to Fleurtini sing makes me remember why I adore the movies from the 20's to 50's. The movies that were made when men were men and women were all woman. With her voice that transcends space and time, Fleurtini is a marvel to listen to.

I asked Fleurtini who her childhood heroes were. This was her reply:

"I was quite an old-fashioned girl, in the sense that whilst my friends all had images of pop-stars on their bedroom walls, I had pictures of Ginger Rogers & Fred Astaire, the Casablanca film poster with Bogart and Bergman, and that classic shot of Marilyn with a bottle of Chanel No.5. I still liked popular music as well, but growing up watching old matinee movies with my mum, or listening to jazz with my dad, it was natural that my aesthetic was a little different to other girls my age.

So I'd say that the 'Golden Age of Hollywood' really produced the heroes of my childhood, in an innocently nostalgic way..."

A woman who loves a bygone age...but does not leave it alone. A woman who embraces the fashion and takes the texture of an age and makes it her own. . Fleurtini...a woman who knows what she likes and makes it her reality. Isn't life wonderful that we can still find others who are congruent in speak and action?

Fleurtini has a sense of flair that we could all envy. I asked her about her favorite shoes (thinking shoes tell much about a person). She sent me a photo that makes me green! Look at these lovely shoes...try to tell me you would not want them!

Fleutini said, "they're a recent acquisition at a second-hand shop near my flat. Vintage Lanvin platforms, unworn and still in their box. The Vintage Fairies were smiling on me that day!"

Sweet Tooth has a distinctive sense of style. It has been said that the female body is more alluring if some is left to the imagination. Fleurtini seems to enjoy a sensual, feminine type of fashion. She posted a picture of this Sretsis dress on her Twitter account. What a fun dress! This is what Fleurtini said about the dress in her post:

"My new Stretsis Heart Dress. It's our song 'Everybody Wants To Be In Love,' in dress form..."

I laughed in delight when I read that. It is such a true description. This silver-hearted dress is love itself! I hope she posts a picture of herself when it arrives.

The Therese Ahrens veil she recently "scored" on e-bay underlines a style of dress that not many could compete with. This lovely accessory would add a touch of daring and allure to an outfit...but it would have to be the right outfit. And Fleurtini seems to be just the person to pull this off.

Complete with Mister Blue-Bird on her shoulder, Fleurtini shines as a bit of sunshine in this sometimes dark world.

The more I learn about this woman, the more I like her. One example is her "very cute online campaign to spread a little love around the world." I love this idea and it is very simple. Here are the instructions copied from her site.

• Simply draw, design, printout or make a paper heart
• Write on it the name of a person, place, thing or idea that you love
• Take a photo of the heart in the setting or location of your choice
• Post it online and let Sweet Tooth know that you’ve done it
• Sweet Tooth will collect all the photos and put them on their future blog at www.sweettoothlondon.co.uk
• Watch the project spread around the world!
• PS: No stock photos or non-original artwork – for copyright reasons!

♥ How to share the love! ♥

Twitter: post the pic on your Twitter page (via TwitPic, etc) and tag Sweet Tooth with @sweettoothuk
Facebook: post your photo onto the page for Sweet Tooth
Flickr: upload them to your Flickr page, tag it with SweetToothLondon and we will find it
MySpace: upload your pic into PhotoBucket, etc, and post it as a comment on Sweet Tooth’s Myspace page: www.myspace.com/sweettoothlondon
Email: send an email with your photo attached to:sweettoothlondon@gmail.com

I'm always looking for new ways to spread love...this campaign is right up my alley.  I decided to have a try. Here is my finished photo of what I love...

As you can see, one of Fleurtini's loves is her cat Sophie. Not realizing that she lived with a sole cat...that single soul of felinicity...I asked her whether she preferred dogs or cats. This is her some-what guarded answer. (NOTE: For all of you who do not own a cat; Beware the cat's nature to know if you EVER admit to liking another animal more than the CAT...Beware the cat's revenge!)

"Ooh, are you really going to make me choose? I honestly love both equally (I'm the crazy girl who has to stop and pat any dog she passes in the street, much to the embarrassment of my friends!). I grew up with a menagerie of dogs and cats as pets, and think both species are wonderful additions to any human life. I do, however, only have a cat at the moment (due to living in a tiny apartment in central London), and so for Sophie's sake I'll have to say cats (in case she's offended and I want to suffer some feline retribution!)."

I wish Fleurtini health and happiness...I just hope Sophie agrees after she learns that "her person" likes dogs also. Cats can be soooo JEALOUS!

Fleurtini is a true chanteuse.  Her voice will escort you on a journey through the bitter-sweet memories of yesterday joined with the joyful hope of today. You will see yourself in reflected in the mirror of a smoke-laced lounge...a mirror to a tomorrow only you can see.