Up and coming: Alex Winston

Who is Alex Winston?A Detroit-born, New York-based multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, piano, drums, ukulele, and is working on her accordian and mandolin skills. Though it's the high-pitched singing voice that gets you first.

What's the story?

Winston was encouraged to play guitar from an early age by her musician father and began taking opera lessons before she had made it into her teens, though it would be stretching it to say that her vocal style is operatic.

What's the sound?

Quirky pop about weird stuff, so not dissimilar to Marina & the Diamonds in that respect. But Winston's influences extend back to Little Richard, Professor Longhair, The Beach Boys and Chuck Berry.

What's available?

So far, a covers EP, plus a mini album, Sister Wife, named in tribute to her backing singers The Sisterwives. Her full-length debut album won't be released until early next year, with songs inspired by such ephemera as beauty pageants and fortune cookie writers. Before then, there's a download EP, Velvet Elvis, with a lead track about objectum sexuality. Altogether now: "You don't breathe, so you can't leave."

What are other people saying?

"Fusing a feel for her hometown's girl group era with a distinctive post-Kate Bush soprano style and sticky-sweet, memorable choruses" – Stereogum

"There is something refreshingly human in her giddiness" – Pitchfork

Where can I hear more?

www.myspace.com/alexwinston and soundcloud.com/alexwinstonofficial

• The Velvet Elvis EP is released as a digital download by Island Records on 12 September