Stream: Natalie Prass, ‘My Baby Don’t Understand Me’ and ‘Why Don’t You Believe In Me’
Andrew Veeder on
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The skinny on Natalie Prass is that she’s a singer-songwriter born in Cleveland and raised in Virginia Beach who did a stint at Berklee and eventually ended up in Nashville, releasing the “Small & Sweet” EP in 2009, and the “Sense of Transcendence” EP in 2011. The real scoop is that after performing in Jenny Lewis’ band on her recent tour with Ryan Adams, Prass’ nine-song self-titled debut album is out today via Spacebomb, and in a little more than a fortnight she’ll be opening for Ryan Adams on his European tour in February and March. (I remember seeing her play at the Adams/Lewis show at the Fox Theater in December, not knowing anything about her, and thinking maybe she was my dream girl.) The album is lovely and timeless, culling big band, folk, Motown, and R&B into her own unique sound, her soft and soulful voice flexing its strength with heart-on-sleeve honest and confessional songwriting. Opening track “My Baby Don’t Understand Me” begins with the lyrics, “I don’t feel much / Afraid I don’t feel anything at all” over a light bit of orchestration as if the band is waking up, then stretching out with the lyrics “Our love is like a long goodbye / We keep waiting for the train to cry / Because my baby don’t understand me,” before marching onward like Joni Mitchell on the cinematic scale of early Björk and Harry Nilsson, with all of the players clicking into such a blissful and nuanced arrangement. Early single “Bird of Prey” is excellent too, as is “Why Don’t You Believe In Me,†a groovy little number built on a bassline, unfolding like a blues song filled out with drums, flute, guitar, horns, and piano, as Prass laments the demise of a relationship, wondering, “Why don’t you believe in me / What did I do / And now that you’re leaving / Because you need something new / You wish I was with you.”
||| Stream: “My Baby Don’t Understand Me” and “Why Don’t You Believe In Me”
||| Live: Natalie Prass plays Hotel Cafe on Feb. 11, and El Rey on Feb. 13 with Hundred Waters and Moses Sumney.
She rocks, her whole album is amazing. You can stream the entire there on Pitchfork actually if you want to hear all it’s glory.
http://pitchfork.com/advance/615-natalie-prass/
Of COURSE she’s one to watch – her album is insane!!! I bought it AND I stream it constantly on Spotify, I’m obsessed!!
[…] Echoplex. (Previously billed the Mighty Diamonds will not perform.) â–º Rising singer-songwriter Natalie Prass visits the Hotel Café behind her new self-titled album. Also playing tonight: Liam Hayes, Andy […]
[…] the wave of buzz surrounding her eponymous debut album, one of the year’s best so far, Natalie Prass played to a packed house at Hotel Café on Wednesday night, captivating the hushed crowd who only […]