(A personal favorite of mine!)
This album starts out with “Oh My”. And the first thing you have to point out is just how funky this track is, and how slick that beat is. I’m used to hearing Natalie on this soft, elegant instrumental. But personally, I think it actually really comes off very fresh and snappy for her. As far as her vocals go, I think they’ve actually gotten better since her very breezy debut. Not to mention, she sounds so confident. “Oh My” is a very hip, refreshing direction for Natalie. It’s a funky jam that focuses not things that society is losing every day, and it has my attention. Now, while “Short Court Style” has a lot of the same qualities and is just as hip, this sounds os much more along the lines of what I was expecting to hear from Natalie. This literally sounds like one of her early tunes that was just gussied up a bit, and it’s beautiful and incredibly charming. It doesn’t have the same upbeat vibes that this album started out with, but it still has a little snap to it. Also, Natalie is just so wonderful at these very cute love songs. Is it a little cheesy? Hell yea, but I wouldn’t have it any other way from Natalie. Now, I’m not going to really dwell on the “Your Fire” interlude. It’s a very sweet, breezy instrumental that only lasts 30 seconds or so. Then we have “The Fire”, which starts off with some very warm, 80’s synths. A lot of this album continues to have a throwback Pop feel, even if this is much more of a modern album than her last. I love a lot of the subtle instrumentals in the background as well. A lot of these tracks have some seriously funky licks to it. Now, this is one of the darker tunes here, with Natalie going on about journeying into the fire because its the only place they know. It’s a little more somber than other tunes, but Natalie ends up making it very likable and strangely positive. It’s another very classy, well written Pop tune.
On the other hand, “Hot for the Mountain” is a whole lot more low-key and sort of jazzy. It’s warm and all, but this track is the first one so far that I haven’t been completely enamored with. This track isn’t nearly as charming, and Natalie’s performance sadly isn’t as charming. This one was actually produced by longtime friend Matthew E. White, which isn’t too shocking when you hear the warm wave after warm wave of Soft Rock instrumentals. But overall, I can’t get into this, not even close. Plus, this once again is sort of dark deep down, but this isn’t nearly as well written or interesting. On the other hand, “Lost” is instantly more charming. I love the sort of jazzy, singer-songwriter vibe to this. It’s the sound that I fell in love with of Natalie’s years ago. Her vocals here are just so gigantic and emotional and beautiful Hell, it even brings up a lot of the same feelings that we saw Natalie deal with on her debut, about her getting into a budding relationship but seemingly having some reservations about it. It’s where Natalie seems most comfortable and it’s nice to hear. Plus, it’s moments like this where really belts out her most incredible vocals, which is always a plus. When Natalie really gets into this singer-songwriter zone, I swear that’s where the real magic begins to happen. “Sisters” is snappy, and once again has a really great groove to it. It still has the same sort of vibe that her debut album had. And there’s nothing really wrong with this one, and has this very sweet feeling of unity within it. For me, I wish this one focused maybe a little more on Natalie’s performance and not these very flashy backing vocals. But this is still a very quaint, well written Indie Pop tune. On the other hand, “Never Too Late” is much slower and steamier, it’s practically a slow jam. And to be honest, Natalie absolutely nails it. It’s sweet and adorable. But it’s also a little quirky instrumentally and absolutely gets your attention. A LOT of these tracks in a way do seem like they were wrote a few years back and gussied up for a new release. But if they keep coming off this charming, I have nothing bad to say.
“Ship Go Down” is another sort of Jazzy number, and I do love hearing Natalie behind the piano. But considering just how awesome the last tune was as a slow jam, this one is leagues less impressive. I don’t mind Natalie pulling out another slow tune, half of the tracks I’ve loved from her in the past have been slow jams. And I actually do love her very playful and bouncy performance quite a bit. But I don’t know, this one to me seems like such a stretch. And the fact that this is by far the longest track here is just aggravating. Like it’s just so drawn out that hearing that electric guitar squeal in the later moments is genuinely exciting. And literally, the last 2 minutes i just not a necessary venture at all. But oh MAN, “Nothing to Say” is just the wakeup call that I needed. I absolutely love the retro keyboards that pop in right off the bat. Natalie here sounds so rejuvenated, and in general so much stronger as a person. So many tracks have sort of teased the ideas of bad relationships with Natalie. But here, she seems like she’s not going to be fooled by any of it. This one has a sort of retro, Soft Rock vibe that’s seriously unreal. It excites me, it makes me hear more of this. Natalie really doesn’t have to tweak much of her sound at all to completely knock this out of the park. Then we have “Far From You”, and what do you know? That’s right, it’s another very stripped down, bluesy number. Now personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing Natalie branch out a little, just like I felt like on her first album. Thankfully, her very sultry vocals are so beautiful here. Not to mention, I love just how introspective and longing the lyrics are. And once again, this has a massively big 70’s Radio Rock vibe to it, which Natalie pulls off in spades. And while, yes, I do sort of wish Natalie mixed it up a bit, this ballad is great. This album ends off with “Ain’t Nobody”, and this starts off with just the funky lick I wanted to hear. This track is seriously groovy. Now, a lot of tracks here have come off with a serious throwback vibe that I can’t deny. But this one for a change comes off like a late 90’s jam. Natalie’s venture into a slightly more electronic sound I have to admit is working really nicely. It’s smooth, and has some great backing vocals. No, I really don’t have anything bad to say about this one. And no, it doesn’t really wrap anything up, it’s far from bad.
Rating: 7.9/10
Give A Listen To: "Short Court Style", "The Fire", "Lost", "Nothing To Say"
Least Favorite Track: "Ship Go Down"
Genre: Indie Pop / Singer-Songwriter / Baroque Pop / Soft Rock
Overall Thoughts: Natalie Prass returns after a few years with a slightly more current sound. On her debut she focused on a very breezy, almost Jazzy sound. But I always wanted to hear Natalie branch out, which is what she does here. The result is a series of very sunny, charming Indie Pop tunes. And for the most part, outside of that dreadful 6 minute "Ship Go Down", this is a pretty enjoyable Indie Pop album. My only real complaint is that I want to hear Natalie branch out even further. Those 80's synths that popped up on here were refreshing, and the 70's Soft Rock vibe is truly charming. But still, no major complaints here.
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