Stroll up to that jewelry store shimmering on a hot Virginia night, under the neon “Spacebomb” sign and take a look at the latest gem–glowing, sparkling, radiant with light. Natalie Prass is the sound of an artist and community working together, replete with lightning-in-a-bottle chemistry, soaked with the same sweet perspiration and small-town spirit that ran through Memphis, New Orleans and Muscle Shoals. It is both an utterly timeless and perfectly timed affair. Using the experience from producing Matthew E. White’s Big Inner, Spacebomb joined forces with a true kindred spirit–Nashville singer and songwriter Natalie Prass–to travel deeper into its universe of sound. The sheer quality of her voice and songs gave collaborators the freedom to push their craft to the limit: Trey Pollard’s gorgeous, technicolor strings rising from the coastal plain; White’s muscular R&B horn signatures driving and complicating the dance; everything locked down to the rhythm section of Cameron Ralston and Pinson Chanselle riding a supernatural groove. Natalie Prass is a thoughtful collection of music, nourished by reverence for past eras of big band and jazz and infused with the crisp detail of late 70s & early 80s R&B, a diamond for everyone, a sophisticated soul-pop triumph.
Listen & Share: “Why Don’t You Believe In Me”
“Bird of Prey” kicks it off with that silky and propulsive beat. Prass delivers the goods, balancing an infectious hook and calmly observed feelings as flutes dive and weave between muted horns, a rolling tack piano courtesy of Daniel Clarke (k.d. lang, Ryan Adams) underpinning the beat. This track makes a confident assertion that southern soul is not gone or lost, or confined to retro gestures. Funky horns, gutsy guitar lines and murmuring flutes in “Why Don’t You Believe In Me” connect with the song’s wry internal monologue, sine wave needles of feedback penetrating the mix in counterpoint to an overall controlled elegance. “Violently” riffs off expectations for gentle ballads with its raw take on the intensity of desire. Vocally inspired by Diana Ross, conveying both softness and strength–a litheness and brightness, Prass has the ability to express the full spectrum of emotion and drift further into shades unknown. During “My Baby Don’t Understand Me,” she sings of the world crumbling while horns sashay into fanfare, the arrangement getting impossibly big but never losing the groove, staying balanced, dropping down to a piano lick, then returning with force–with power. As a songwriter, Prass has that rare ability to compose in her own distinct voice and still sound immediately classic.
The graceful “It Is You” closes out the album in style, the spirit of Harry Nilsson strolling in a sentimental mood through colorful fields of sound. Pollard distills his strings to their highest proof: intoxicating, sweet and lush, then fading down to a perfect sigh of dissonance. Natalie Prass consistently achieves those moments of “shared recognition,” when certain elements, a nuance of arrangement or the emotional weight of a lyric, unite to create astonishing richness and depth. This artist and this record reach Spacebomb’s vision of intensely personal, well-crafted regional music, a new music that has global reach and appeal. It wouldn’t sound the same coming from anywhere else, New York, Chicago, L.A. or even Philly; the pace is unique–pure central Virginia time, bound up in the tight harmony of community, its energy captured and released in the vibrant, effortless sound of Natalie Prass.
Singer-songwriter discusses album at Pitchfork Rising
Self-titled debut LP out 1/27 on Spacebomb
“…warm, lush sound … steeped in the florid r&b of the ’60s and early 1970s, around the heyday of FAME and Stax, but never beholden to mere revivalism … With the luxuriance of Dusty Springfield and the reedy expressiveness of Diana Ross“ – Best New Track, Pitchfork
EUROPEAN DATES
Natalie will tour Europe solo to showcase her raw talent as a singer and performer. This will be her first time in these countries.
- Jan 25 2015 – Whelans, Dublin, Ireland bit.ly/natalieprasswhelansjan
- Jan 27 2015 – The Lexington, London, UK bit.ly/Natalieprasslondonlex
- Jan 29 2015 – The Paradiso North, Amsterdam, NL http://bit.ly/natalieprassamsterdam
US DATES
Stateside, Natalie will be joined by a full band to recreate the lush arrangements on the album.
- Feb 3, 2015 – The Broadberry, Richmond VA http://bit.ly/natalieprassrva
- Feb 4, 2015 – DC9, Washington, DC http://bit.ly/natalieprassdc
- Feb 5, 2015 – Boot & Saddle, Philadelphia, PA http://bit.ly/natalieprassphilly
- Feb 6, 2015 – Rough Trade, Brooklyn, NY http://bit.ly/natalieprassbklyn
- Feb 8, 2015 – TT the Bear’s, Cambridge, MA http://bit.ly/natalieprassboston
About Natalie:
Natalie Prass is the kind of artist Spacebomb was created for–a songwriter’s songwriter and performer’s performer blessed with a golden voice and universal appeal–a singer who understands the vision and brings an undeniable talent to the process. She’s a joy for any listener to discover–a lover and a fighter and old-soul trader in genuine energy, aiming straight for the heart. Prass turns a sly eye to the pageantry of emotion, the drama of love and the mysteries of everyday life with a disarming mixture of sincerity and cosmic insolence, unapologetically romantic, spinning golden threads of lyric and melody, each inflection and melisma planned and considered, each word tailored for meaning and effect–the pop gesture as artform. She delivers it all with carefree charm and nearly divine intuition. Her voice, at times so ethereal, is shot through by strength and sinew and just a hint of transient grit. The feeling is soft, but it cuts so deep, leaving any listener with a trace of a soul, thunderstruck and enchanted.
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