Singer-songwriter Kimya Dawson first attracted attention as half of the core (with Adam Green) of the Moldy Peaches, a band whose music stuck many of us as charming but seemed to many others to, at best, define the term "an acquired taste." The group released only one real album of new material, which had the distinctive bad fortune of being released on September 11, 2001, before going "on hiatus." Since then, Dawson, who doesn't have professional management and promotes herself through the Internet, has released a string of low-profile solo albums with such titles as I'm Sorry That Sometimes I'm Mean and My Cute Fiend Sweet Princess. And now, she's part of a smash hit record — the Juno soundtrack, currently number three on the charts. The movie incorporates Dawson's songs — notably "Anyone Else but You", which the stars Ellen Page and Michael Cera perform together at the end of the picture, and which is also heard in the Moldy Peaches' version — and Mateo Messina, who composed the score, tried to take his cues from Dawson's work so that all the music in the movie would have a similar feel. Dawson's music, which isn't on a major label, might seem an odd choice for synergy-minded suits to try to include in a movie, but then that's not how this wasn't their choice; it turns out that Dawson was suggested by Ellen Page, after Juno's director, Jason Reitman, asked her what kind of music she thought her character would listen to.
Thanks to the movie, the quirky, thoughtful Dawson, with her childlike music and DIY aesthetic, is on the verge of breaking through to a much larger audience, and she's smart enough to have mixed feelings about it. "Because of the success of the album," she says, "people have all these expectations of what the next steps are for me." This seems not to be the kind of concern over mainstream success versus punk "authenticity" that caused Kurt Cobain so much angst but an honest concern about the nature of her relationship to the audience changing in ways that may not serve her well. Fans of the movie who are compelled to seek out more of her work may not like what they hear; longtime fans may feel that something special has been lost now that, suddenly, the rest of the world has caught on to their secret good thing. In the meantime, she's just trying to remain herself, albeit in front of more people. Performing recently in Brooklyn, she wrapped up her show by telling the audience, "People who have to leave, leave fast. People who don’t, get in a circle and hold hands."
