Introducing: Nadine Shah

Dreary Town  EP to be released by R&S Records / Apollo on April 15  

 VIDEO: Nadine Shah – “Dreary Town” (Dir. by Matthew Barton) –

Following last year’s critically acclaimed Aching Bones EP, Nadine Shah has found a new home with R&S Records imprint Apollo, which will be releasing her brand new Dreary Town EP on April 15, 2013. Picking up where her debut left off, Dreary Town continues the emergence of a significant talent.

Hailing from the north east town of Whitburn, yet London based, this young artist’s compositions lean towards the dramatic, with her smoky husky-hued vocals imbued with an understated unease, with a stage presence that belies her youthful age.

Lead track, “Dreary Town,” with its plummeting melodies and anguished vocals, is the most personal of all three and the track that convinced producer Ben Hillier (The Horrors, Blur, Depeche Mode) to work with her upon hearing an early version uploaded to YouTube.

Closely followed by “Bobby Heron,” with creeping guitar strums driving a story about her great grandmother’s only boy. “He died at sea,” Nadine reveals, “my great gran was obviously distraught, but even more so because she couldn’t bury her little boy. There was this clairvoyant in our hometown, a blind guy everyone knew. She went to see him and he told her exactly where the body was.That night my great grandad went out in his fishing boat. Sure enough the body was where they’d been told it would be, and with a grappling hook he retrieved Bobby’s body. My mum and Aunty always tell that story. I wrote the song for my mum really, I wanted to ensure that her tale lived on.”

The new EP is topped off with the singer’s wonderfully sinister take on “Cry Me A River.” Having begun singing it when she was a much younger jazz singer, Nadine just loved how you could, “really twist the lyric and rather than sounding like a wounded woman you can be more of madwoman seeking revenge!”

“Expect her to be next year’s critics’ darling” – The Independent 

“The emotional and sonic depth she attains on the glowering debut EP, Aching Bones, is the work of a singularly unique artist” – Daily Mirror

“Her dark tales of lust, loss and vengeance bring to mind Broken English-era Marianne Faithfull and are due belated critical acclaim” – The Guardian

“…It already looks to be one of 2013’s most promising debuts.” – NME

“An enticing debut” – Mojo

“Channels the towering intensity of To Bring You My Love-era PJ Harvey with a hint of Philip Larkin-esque humour and the intoxicating sadness of her father’s Urdu ghazals” – Time Out London ‘Ones To Watch for 2013’