Nikka Costa doesn't consider herself a sex symbol.
If you've seen any of Costa's videos, such as the sassy one for her tasty breakthrough single "Like a Feather" or her publicity photos - the one featuring the top of her derriere peaking above her low-rise jeans is an Internet favorite - you're probably thinking to yourself, "Yeah, right."
But it's true. During a recent phone interview from the offices of her L.A.-based label, Cheeba Sound, Costa said that she's not sure the sexy tag fits.
"Well, it's not like I wake up or something and say to myself, 'God, I'm a sexy woman,'" Costa said with a laugh. "There are plenty of times I don't feel sexy at all. But when I'm singing on stage, I feel sexy because I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. I feel in my power and that is a sexy feeling."
Costa, 29, and her eight-piece band will be spending a lot of time on stage in the next few weeks, both with headlining shows and as part of the SnoCore "Icicle Ball" tour. Costa joins the R&B/rap-flavored tour on March 13 in Iowa City, Iowa, until its conclusion on March 27 in Boston.
Costa said her energetic stage show is an outgrowth of the time spent in Australia after graduating from high school a little over ten years ago. At that point, Costa, the daughter of jazz arranger/composer/producer Don Costa, was seeking her own way after spending ages 7 through 10 as a child star in Europe and South America.
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But after her father's death in 1983, Costa began to turn away from the world of pop music. She recorded one more album for a German label to fulfil a contract then quietly finished high school in the U.S. She then moved to Australia and started playing music again. The time down under was well spent, Costa said.
"It definitely did help," she said. "Playing live there is really good practice. The audience is tough, they go to a lot of live gigs. It was a hard slog, but I made it."
Costa recorded one album while in Australia, Butterfly Rocket, that was a virtual blueprint for her American debut, Everybody Got Their Something. The CD has the kind of irresistible groove and a musical mix that puts Costa in the same league as neo-soul singers such as Angie Stone and Macy Gray.
Everybody Got Their Something enjoys a musical melange that brings to mind old-school soul such as Sly and the Family Stone, Chaka Khan and Prince as well as contemporaries like Spearhead and Dan "The Automator" Nakamura.
The disc contains a full range of textured songs from tender ballads such as "Nothing," the ferocious funk of "Tug of War" and "Hope It Felt Good" to more subtle grooves of the title track and "So Have I For You." Lyrically Costa, who said she writes a lot about believing in yourself and following your heart.
"I write about human issues, not relationship issues," she said. "'Tug of War' is like any situation where your mind tells you one thing and your heart wants to do something else. They're the things that go on in your head. It could be a relationship, it could be work, it could be a lot of things."
Though Everybody Got Their Something was released at the same time, Costa hasn't received anywhere near the praise that other so-called neo-soul vocalists such as Alicia Keys and Gray.
But Costa said she doesn't feel slighted or over-looked. Nor does she see her music being of any one genre.
"I don't think anyone can throw me in the new R&B, neo-soul sound," she said. "I don't really care that much about being lumped in with other artists. I don't feel bad about not getting awards. I don't think about it. I just do what I do."
Nikka Costa plays The Paramount, 331 Sandoval St., in Santa Fe Sunday at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $15 through Ticketmaster. You can charge by phone by calling 505-883-7800 or at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets also will be available at the door.
For more information on the SnoCore "Icicle Ball," go to http://snocore.artistdirect.com.
