NATALIE PRASS – NATALIE PRASS

Description

Natalie Prass’ gorgeous debut was recorded at the same time as Matthew E White’s debut and used the same Spacebomb Records house band. It’s a rich, sophisticated set to file alongside Dusty Springfield’s ‘Made in Memphis’, Dionne Warwick, Carole King and Scott Walker, with Pass’s pure voice the calm centre as strings, horns and flutes flutter and swoop around it. It would sound like a classic in any era. Natalie Prass is the kind of artist Spacebomb was created for – a songwriter’s songwriter and performer’s performer blessed with a golden voice and universal appeal – a singer who understands the vision and brings an undeniable talent to the process. She’s a joy for any listener to discover – a lover and a fighter and old-soul trader in genuine energy, aiming straight for the heart. Prass turns a sly eye to the pageantry of emotion, the drama of love and the mysteries of everyday life with a disarming mixture of sincerity and cosmic insolence, unapologetically romantic, spinning golden threads of lyric and melody, each inflection and melisma planned and considered, each word tailored for meaning and effect – the pop gesture as artform. She delivers it all with carefree charm and nearly divine intuition. Her voice, at times so ethereal, is shot through by strength and sinew and just a hint of transient grit. The feeling is soft, but it cuts so deep, leaving any listener with a trace of a soul, thunderstruck and enchanted.