“People have sex to my songs,” recounts a flu-stricken, but very charming Rachael Yamagata at her 2-hour concert on Wednesday, April 15th at The Esplanade theatre, Singapore.

Despite being slightly under the weather from her 25-hour flight, she radiates with a warm glow and an affectionate slab of humour as the enthusiastic audience laps it up to the American singer-songwriter who belted out tunes from her 2004’s Happenstance and last year’s Elephants … Teeth Sinking into Heart. This is her second gig in the city-island three years after her first one held during the annual Mosaic Music Festival in 2006. Having a mix of Japanese, German and Italian blood in her veins, Yamagata’s personal stories are just as interesting as her ancestral ties. The 31-year-old explained that her latest album is largely inspired by nature and this is clearly evident during her cheeky discourse which is stippled with cats, bears, ghosts and sex. Other than professing her love for her cat and the synonymous Broadway musical (which happened to be playing simultaneously at the neighbouring concert hall), she also talked about her penchant for writing relationship-related songs which people have sex to, and her encounters with a bear and a trumpet-blowing ghost during the course of crafting her sophomore record.

Much to the delight of fans, Yamagata did the usual run of her break-out songs like TV-sitcom-friendly “Be Be Your Love” and “Worn Me Down”, a popular favourite from The OC soundtrack. The cold definitely marred her voice slightly, as she struggled with hitting some of the notes and in general, she sounded more effortless on the acoustics than vocally-demanding rock songs. The band did a remarkable job in backing her signature raspy pipes, especially in songs like the sassy number, "Faster" and "Sunday Afternoon" where the lead guitarist performed a series of impressive guitar licks and received a jubilant applause from the crowd. Graciously, Yamagata responded to the encore-chanting audience by performing two more songs, “Duet” (which she wittily improvised and mimicked the low humming passage of Ray Lamontage, given his absence) and the soothing, sultry “The Reason Why”, pleasing the crowd to no end.

The concert was like an intimate experience with a chummy lass who's all chatty and giggly, quite the opposite of what one would expect from lines like “You can flee with your wounds just in time or lie there as he feeds / Watching yourself ripped to shreds and laughing as you bleed.” We got to know the person behind the singer-songwriter extraordinaire, her personal muses and random quirks through songs and casual dialogue. We saw more than a performer on stage. More a mutual acquaintance instead, who presented herself as a genuine human being with a love for life, cats and writing songs about relationships. What we got in return, are lasting melodies and a boxful of stories. In her closing speech, she promised to drop by sooner the next time round - something which we'll definitely hold her to!