Modern Singers That Sound Like Old Singers | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

Kevin Parker (Tame Impala): John Lennon

I was checking out Tame Impala because they’re apparently renowned for their modern psychedelia. After hearing the vocals on their very first track of their album Lonerism (Be Above It), I was shocked because Parker’s voice has the same sort of high pitched, steely voice as John Lennon ‘s. Their most famous song (as of now) is “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards” which is kind of masked over, but you can still here John Lennon in there. 

Songs to compare voices: “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards” vs. “#9 Dream”

Florence Welch (Florence and the Machine): Grace Slick (Jefferson Airplane)

Florence Welch has cited that Grace Slick is one of her influences, and there’s really no denying it. They both have soaring and heavy sopranos, often with escalation to the climax (like Florence and the Machine’s “Shake it Out” and Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit”). 

Songs to compare voices: “Cosmic Love” vs. “Somebody to Love”

Marina Diamandis (Marina and the Diamonds): Nico

Honestly, I’m not a big fan of Marina and the Diamonds. A lot of her music is extremely (and I mean EXTREMELY) poppy about and there’s a lot of electronica thrown in. Which is incredibly ironic since Nico sang, for the most part, about bleak despair. However, their voices are uncanny, both having a foreign lilt and a heavy weight to their singing (but because Marina is a pop singer, her voice often travels to the higher pitched octaves, as heard at the beginning of “Froot”).

Songs to Compare: “Froot” vs. “These Days”