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Album Details
- Artist: Kate Nash
- Album: My Best Friend Is You
- Label: Polydor
- Year of Release: 2010
- ME Rating:
- Reviewed by: tosnob on 2010-05-19
RecommendWith train-wrecks like Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen hanging around, Kate Nash has become almost a forgotten lady on the British indie music scene. Her debut, Made of Bricks, was as good or better than the albums from her contemporaries, but for some reason she's dropped down in our collective consciousness.
On April 20th Nash will attempt to correct this injustice with the release of her sophomore album My Best Friend Is You.
This is definitely a transitional album for Nash. On her debut she played pissed off but catchy pop songs. With the exception of "Do Wah Doo" you aren't going to find those on My Best Friend Is You. Instead you'll get the sound of an artist feeling her way around, trying to find a direction as she graduates to more sophisticated songwriting.
Nash shows no fear as she experiments with different styles in an attempt to displace the played-out pop. Among the genres she tries on for size are sweeping orchestral pop ("Paris", "Kiss That Girl"), art rock ("I've Got a Secret"), Breeders-esque lo-fi ("I Just Love You More"), and even spoken word ("Mansion Song"). Needless to say they are met with varying degrees of success.
It's when Nash strips her songs down to their bare bones that she connects the best. The piano and vocal "Pickpocket" and the guitar-and-voice "You Were So Far Away" let the natural poetry and smolder emotions of Nash's lyrics shine through. When that happens you don't even care that Nash's vocals can hardly be characterized as "lovely".
My Best Friend Is You is definitely an uneven record. From track to track the album is hit or miss. But full credit must go to Nash for her fearless exploration of music and her refusal to be boxed in. It may not be completely rewarded on this album, but it bodes very well for her future output.
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on 2010-05-15 lewiswilkinson Said:
Its hard to imagine it has been almost three years since Kate Nashs debut Made Of Bricks was released, and it seems she has matured musically in the time she has been away, although it could be argued My Best Friend Is You has been influenced by her boyfriend Ryan Jarman, lead singer of the Cribbs.
The album opens with Paris, which is very much the Kate we know and love from three years ago, although a little less Im-not-talking-but-Im-not-singing-either . The second track, Kiss That Grrrl, has a charming although not quite logical mismatched rhyme supported by a simple beat, which is how Nash works best. The brass section, mainly horns are used with a heavy hand, although this compliments the somewhat blas? feel of the track.
Already it is clear that Kate Nash is developing musically, although I Just Love You More seems almost uncomfortable as Nash literally wails throughout the song. However, the dirtier, grungy sound works well, if even only on this track. This is well followed by perhaps one of the better songs on the album, Do-Wah-Doo. Again, a simple musical structure is employed, although this serves to allow you to focus more clearly on the lyrics, which although seem unpolished were almost certainly carefully picked, including: Everyone thinks that girl is a lady, but I dont, I think that girl is shady , and closing after feeling an almost bubbling resentment for that girl by stating, Well - I think shes a bitch .
Another song worth noting is Mansion Song, with its shockingly overt feminist theme, though Nash finds her roots again, starting with simple spoken word prose for around three minutes, followed by a brief interlude and the track really takes off.
Pickpocket, the penultimate track on the album feels well composed, if not a little close-to-the-bone when considering influences to be that of Regina Spektor. The track progresses nicely and almost slows the album as it draws to a close.
Polydor 2010
1. Paris
2. Kiss That Grrrl
3. Don't You Want To Share The Guilt?
4. I Just Love You More
5. Do Wah Doo
6. Higher Plane
7. I've Got A Secret
8. Mansion Song
9. Early Christmas Present
10. Later On
11. Pickpocket
12. You Were So Far Away
13. I Hate Seagulls / My Best Friend is You
Not Rated
