A thread for Natalie Prass

Just discovered her and I must say I'm hooked. I waited for this kind of lush chamber-pop for a long time. Equal parts vast and intimate.

I wonder what ILX will think of her.

Album is on Spotify.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h50Q47W80ao

I kept reading comparisons to Dusty Springfield and then I heard here, and she's no Dusty. She's ok, but I was a tad disappointed. Sorry.

Oh don't be sorry! It's all good.

I should start collecting Dusty Springfield's records then.

Matthew E White did the arrangements, yes? I'd like to hear him paired up with a more assertive singer sometime.

Really don't get the huge hype. It's pleasant but only the final song on the album connected (and it's very good).

i'm not a very big fan of her voice, and the songs are real discursive

Pitchfork and the Washington Post's Chris Richards think more highly of her than many of us do

this is pretty good, her voice isn't my favorite but m.e.w. could produce and arrange a belligerent drunk shouting nonsense and i'd prob find it listenable.

i think she's great. the songwriting is fantastic, white does it great justice, and i love her voice - it's like mary lorson meets karen carpenter.

and i'm playing this album to absolute death at the moment.

agreed that her voice sounds most at home in the musical theater style thing going on in the last track

This is very much like the Matthew E White record from a couple of years ago in that the arrangements and songwriting are fantastic but the voice and persona in the middle of it feels weak in comparison.

agreed that her voice sounds most at home in the musical theater style thing going on in the last track

Yeah I heard that and thought "Wow, damn, a lost Disney showstopper from the late fifties/early sixties." An album in that general vein would have been far stronger.

Matthew E. White has a new album coming out next month. Looking forward to hearing that one. I dig the Spacebomb label/studio's approach (modeled after Stax), but I agree on the vocals. Hopefully the success of this album will attract some more dynamic singers/songrwriters. I feel like these guys have a really strong album in them down the road.

new Matthew E White is *excellent! though I think I still prefer the Prass.

Yeah as someone who misses more expansive arrangements post-collapse-of-the-music-industry, I'm glad that a record label like Spacebomb exists.

I love the understatement of the voice, to each their own I guess.

tv show appearance

http://www.nbc.com/last-call-with-carson-daly/video/natalie-prass-why-dont-you-believe-in-me/2849451

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO8XduS7VvA

I love the record and am happy to be going to see her in Glasgow in June, but the vocals in that clip are really really wonky.

She was great live in London earlier this year. Never too taken with the sound on Later... tbh.

yeah i still play this record A LOT and it might be my favorite so far. But yeah, not a huge fan of Later... either.

Saw that exact same performance on later tonight and the vocals sounded OK. Either my TV sound is better than my work headphones, they've tidied it up, or I'm drunk.

Probably a combination of all three.

Just discovering this. I think her songs and the arrangements are excellent, but there is something a little off about the vocals, like they sound too teen pop for the maturity of the songs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pv7rN-_IWU

looking forward to the new album

said album is called The Future and The Past, out 06/01. "Short Court Style" is great.

her vocals sound a little less timid than before (the primary objection about her debut iirc), befitting the more muscular instrumental

hmmmmmmm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T0wYQpAlzo

don't know how I feel about the chorus but the rest is good

Yeah that chorus is a bit lazy but love the neo-soul vibe on this one and all of her songs have stunning arrangements. Really liking the production on this two songs so far.

not exactly blown away by the lyrics but uh also not exactly the target demo on this one

Kinda reminds me of 'Worldwide Underground'-era Badu

File under: New material that retroactively makes me question what I heard in the old material. Such a bland song and such hokey genre appropr... er, homage

The new album is excellent. V different to the first. Her Janet Jackson cover was a great signpost for where she's gone.

https://www.npr.org/2018/05/24/613165661/first-listen-natalie-prass-the-future-and-the-past

Based on the opening seconds of this, brad should probably hear it

Agreed. And it's really, really good.

Some of this I'm not sure about (still find "Sisters" an irritant) but man the sonics on this are really something. 70s protest soul + 80s/90s r&b with a heavy dollop of strings and jazz piano? someone more versed in the genre(s) the extent to which someone's tried this already

It's been quite a while since production stuck out to me like it does here, on first listen, you're completely otm. It's so clear and super funky and soulful.

I'm still not that keen on Sisters, but the rest of it is sounding really good. Reminds me of that gorgeous last Corinne Bailey Rae album in places.

as with the last one, the vocals are gonna be the make or break for a lot of people I think

Ship Goes Down absolutely kills me. The record's a masterpiece.

this album is gorgeous and yeah wow, Ship Goes Down

Yeah so this completely rules, confirmed on a long summer walk

her Spotify inspirations playlist contains a lot of stuff that's new to me

https://open.spotify.com/user/natalieprassofficial/playlist/73bDJ40IUKgE1HCLnjJnGR?si=BGrJEuyqTwS9mlGZf4cPUQ

album of the fuckin year

This is gorgeous.

yesss brad!

"Ain't Nobody" is an amazing closer, love the way it combines all the album's sounds and even throws in that little reprise of "Hot for the Mountain"

why do birds, do they suddenly
disappear

Never Too Late through to Ain't Nobody is a really incredible run of tracks

The production on this thing is impeccable. Fantastic sounding album. Didn't expect to like this as much as I do.

Just wanna echo the chorus that this is upper echelon level dope

Surprised I haven't seen more (any?) chatter about it beyond here

As a piano player and music lover, the pfogrsssion In hot for the mountain rules me

Some of the backing vocals bring to mind deradoorian and Coffman from dirty projectors

I sort of can't believe that it's mostly the same group of folks behind this record and the debut.

i love this album

round and round
had ups and downs

the progresssion In hot for the mountain rules me

Yeah this stood out for me too - liking this album a lot on first listen

This album is so good

Sisters tho sucks

Disagree, re sisters. This is one of the three best albums I've heard all year. And this is a very good year.

This is very good. The "Your Fire"/"The Fire"/"Hot…" section is a bit ho hum, but the rest is, um, fire. Will probably buy.

Lost is so gorgeous

Only song I’ve heard from her is the one that sounded like Disney (think it was the final song on her debut?)

Yup, and I said as much as the time. I'll get around to this but something about her's always been a bit offputting, somehow.

That's baffling to me. There's a huge change in style between the debut and the new one, but I can't for the life of me imagine how one would find any of her music offputting. Ymmv though obv.

To clarify: I am allergic to everything remotely Disney, am just not getting it from her.

i've heard a lot of ppl compare the first album to disney soundtracks

Madness.

She's wearing her influences on her sleeve on her debut: Joni, Mary Margaret O'Hara, symphonic film score music as a background. Sure. But the latter doesn't always equate to "Disney", people.

I only heard it specifically in that last track but it was definitely the association I made on a cold first listen, having not heard anything else by her/about her before listening to the album as a whole.

Last track wouldn't have raised any eyebrows on the Lalaland soundtrack, in context of the album it's not as idiosyncratic imo, but I get you'd get this Disney feeling now.

anyway it doesn't carry through to the new album at all ned

Yeah, new one is like it's by someone else entirely.

Which does intrigue!

Yeah I love this record and I didn’t care for that Disney esque track - felt like just another Josephine foster devendra freak folk thing

whoa this is different from her first one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dnux4JLY0Eo

really like the video for 'the fire'

album is still one of my favourites this year

yep, I still play it a lot even with the deluge of great new albums

It's easily in my top 3 of the year

Saw her last night, really really great show. Don't miss this tour, please.

http://vancouverweekly.com/natalie-prass-on-trying-to-stay-hopeful-in-troubling-times-61689-2/

I got to interview her! I'm new to music journalism, so that was pretty exciting.

oh very cool josh

album definitely in my top 10

great piece Josh!

Thank you!

I’m actually at her Vancouver concert now, any ilx users here? She’s not on for another hour but it’s still heartbreaking how few ppl there are here

kinda crazy that you can release critically acclaimed albums and have a label doing promo and everything and still not necessarily fill small venues

my brother once saw Clipse, just slightly past their prime, play a Danish club in front of an audience of about 20 people

picked up this record for the first time in months and i can't believe it exists, what a rush <3

brad you're getting an EOY list ready aren't you

who can say

also imo i should not be getting a year-end list ready bc it's still october but for some reason websites are beholden to magazine publishing schedules

rigging up the brad signal

https://www.stereogum.com/2027828/natalie-prass-prefab-sprout-wild-horses/video/

oh my god

She really nails it with that live version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUbMT0T2rIc

"Oh My", 1:35 in, the cadence of "Seems like everyday we're losing..." is bringing up another song, but I'm stumped. Thinking Prince or some current synthpop band, and near resigned to just stumbling across it in the future. Any ideas?

nice performance on corden:

https://youtu.be/Z2oZDu-V-v8

That's great! She should be a huge star right now.

I keep going back to that Sprout cover. Such a gorgeous version.

more fun: https://www.npr.org/2019/02/22/697010742/natalie-prass-tiny-desk-concert

awesome to know that Hot For The Mountain is her favorite, as it's my favorite too.