West Coast singer/songwriter Sacha Sacket has been quoted as saying, "I am in love with unrequited love. I will write about that to no end." And unrequited love is, in fact, a prominent theme for the Los Angeles resident, who has a knack for writing songs that are melancholy, brooding, and darkly introspective. Sacket, whose work falls into the folk-rock and adult alternative categories, draws on an interesting variety of influences from different eras -- some male and some female, some American and some European. The late British folk-rocker Nick Drake (born 1948, died 1974) is a definite influence -- Drake, like Sacket, was known for writing a lot of somber, morose songs -- and so are Sarah McLachlan and Tori Amos; Sacket, in fact, has been described as a "male Tori Amos" (although his songs are more accessible and less abstract). And two people Sacket himself has cited as influences are England's Radiohead and former Sugarcubes vocalist turned solo artist Björk (who is Icelandic). Sacket (who plays acoustic piano as well as electric keyboards, synthesizers, and organ) is one of the more piano-driven artists in the rock field; while most rockers are very guitar-powered, Sacket has made certain that keyboard instruments are a driving force on his recordings. Sacket doesn't exclude guitar, but unlike many rockers, he doesn't allow the piano or keyboards to take a back seat to the guitar. And while he isn't totally unique in that regard -- Elton John, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Billy Joel were all piano-powered rockers -- it does make him part of a minority in the rock world. Born in Tehran, Iran, to a British mother and an Iranian/Persian father, Sacket was only one year old when he moved to Los Angeles with his parents. After growing up in Southern California, Sacket began to acquire a small following on the L.A. club scene in the early 2000s. Alabaster Flesh, the singer/songwriter's first album, was released on the independent Golden Sphinx Records in 2001; it was followed by Sacket's sophomore album, Shadowed (also on Golden Sphinx), in 2004. ~ Alex Henderson
