Cruel Youth

Cruel Youth sounds like The Ronettes on Oxy. Each song a narcotic lullaby, subtly laced with switchblade lyrics. A psychedelic jingle you might hear while waiting in line at a Western Union, or a laptop symphony soundtracking a car crash in slow motion. It’s as if Phil Spector or The Beach Boys had bottled the pure essence of young love captured by their 1960’s sweetheart songs…years later to be uncorked, cut, cooked, and shot up as a quick fix for modern dreamers’ demand for instant desire. Teddy Sinclair fronts the 3 piece all-girl band, joined live by guitars and keys. But when it comes to making records, there is visceral, unflinching approach that only Teddy could capture with her husband, fellow artist and songwriting partner, Willy Moon. After meeting Willy in 2013 at Universal Records, Teddy found an inseparable intimacy in their creative chemistry and the two married just a few months later. Formerly known by her stage name “Natalia Kills,” she unhesitatingly took her newly wed’s family name “Sinclair” in May of 2014 whilst legally changing her first name to her cherished childhood nickname “Teddy.” In the summer of 2015, she announced her new identity to her fans. And thus, Cruel Youth was born. Far before the music and madness began, Teddy was born in northern England to a Jamaican-born father and a South American mother. She spent most of her early childhood visiting her dad in Wormwood Scrubs prison in London, writing him letters and poetry in between visits. It was during this process that she discovered her affinity for words and the hope and pain something as simple as a pen could possess. “My Dad was in and out a lot… but that can make you closer in a way because you appreciate the time you spend together so much more,” she confessed. Even now, after a recent conviction of international drug trafficking, Teddy still visits her father regularly at a maximum-security prison. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.