Music > Album Reviews

Nadine Shah - Fast Food

05/05/15

Nadine Shah's first album was a beautiful, if dark, and at times disturbing, collection of songs borne out of tragedy. Now, with 'Fast Food', she performs an autopsy of past relationships with the dawning of  new-found confidence and a sense of empowerment. The result may still be light on joy and frivolity, but it is a musical coming of age for an artist still prepared to wear her heart firmly on her sleeve. “There was nothing else to do but fall in love” she sings with stoicism and undisguised Geordie pragmatism.

Again produced and co-written with Ben Hillier, but this time using the guitar in preference to keyboards to build atmosphere, 'Fast Food' is a dramatic collection that will inevitably draw further comparisons with PJ Harvey, and now perhaps Anna Calvi, although Nadine Shah's voice has a velvety solitude that is very much her own.

'You, my sweet, are a fool' she sings with bitterness, wit and a dollop of lyrical irony. But this is not just dessert. And this album is ultimately more satisfying than any lunchtime 'meal deal'. It is a veritable smorgasbord of reflection and projection, with each successive track depositing an exciting new flavour onto the palate. 

8/10