Nadine Shah
Fast Food

You will first reach the Sirens,

who charm anyone whose prow sailing touches their shores.

Whoever heedlessly landson the shores of the Sirens and hears their song

neither the faithful wife nor the dear children will greet them on the festive threshold.

The Sirens, sitting in a beautiful meadow,

send out a song from sharp lips,

that entices the traveler: but not far off

from the bones of decaying human bodies,

and rotting skins, a mountain rises.

[“Odyssey” Book Twelfth, Homer]

A new siren emerges from the land of Albion. With half-Norwegian and half-Pakistani origins, Nadine Shah is the new voice, gothic and enticing, of alternative rock. A low and deep voice, that of Nadine. A voice that captivates and hypnotizes at the firstlisten. Her second album “Fast Food”, released last April 6, sounds seductive, dirty, powerful, and refined. Everytrack, every nuance, elevates the singer-songwriter to the level of the great female voices of the past, while winkingat the modernity of the most popular post-punk bands.

Ten tracks narrating a labyrinthine and complicated love story. Ten tracks that lay bare the tough fragility ofa tormented and in love woman. The beautiful “Fool” and “Stealing Cars” have the allure of the night lights of ametropolis, the underground charm of the early (now unrecoverable) Interpol. Dominant basses and insistent guitar envelopeNadine's masculine voice, leaving the listener immersed in the neon shadows of a deserted, melancholic street. “Matador” is a splendid dramatic and folk-tinged piece. One can hear reminiscences of PJ Harvey's Stories From The City,Stories From The Sea, of Nick Cave's Let Love In. A slow blues, scratchy and seductive, unsettling and captivating.

The love story that Nadine tells us seems like a true autobiographical novel, made of real suggestions and emotions, of suffering and inner strength. Her most fragile side appears in “Divided”, a nearly acoustic track where shetells us about still longing for that difficult and complicated love. The voice, lower and more introspective than ever, brings backfrom the past the atypical beauty of Jeff Buckley's music, however, infused with that dark and gothic veil that permeates the wholealbum.

It's impossible not to be struck by this album. In each of the tracks, Nadine Shah shows the best of herself, without ever missing. Urban moments and more blatantly post-punk ones mix without ever colliding with the softness of folk and blues,allowing this blend to create perfect harmony and a perfect track list. Nadine is sweet, bitter, angry,reflective. It is a special and layered combination, which places her at the same (high) level as other singer-songwriters who've comeout of the shell in recent years: Chelsea Wolfe, Marissa Nadler, Grouper.

In her, one feels a power that starts from the heart and pours from the throat with a unique and enchanting voice. In her, one feels the ability to craft an album of magmatic and layered beauty. Don't be like Ulysses, don't fill your ears with wax.Let yourself be enchanted and drawn to the beach of Nadine Shah and her new, beautiful album.