I personally find Kate Nash inspiring. I liked the sweetness of her first record, it was almost like she was the less brash version of Lily Allen- a similar singing style and both capable of writing interesting lyrics, whilst Lily sang about weed smoking brothers and enjoying seeing her ex boyfriend squirm, Kate was behind a piano, singing about the demise of a relationship, and about falling in lust with someone- but she wasn't the typical singer songwriter behind the piano, she was more cheerful, the songs were bouncy, catchy pop ditties like 'Foundations'
I have to admit despite enjoying 'Made of Bricks' I never got round to buying her second album 'My Best Friend is You' but in the interim I found out more about Kate Nash, the person behind the music. I found out that she proudly calls herself a feminist, started an after school club to help get more girls into song-writing when she found out the measly amount of females who received song writing loyalties as well as volunteering at a women's shelter, working with all girl band and female sound engineers.
Then last year, she released a new free to download song which sounded completely different to what she had previously recently, that caused quite a stir on the internet-
for me though, I loved it! I really felt it captured the riot grrrl spirit, and knowing she had also been playing in a punk band, I found the progression seemed to be a natural one for her, and when I heard she was releasing a new album, I was really looking forward to hearing how her music would develop.
Girl Talk didn't disappoint! I find it an intriguing mix of the more sweet, candy pop side of her with songs like '3am'
but then she goes much grungier and heavier on songs like 'Death Proof'
The album really shows the flexibililty of Kate's voice as well, one minute she's singing in harmony, then she's 'rock chick', on 'Cherry Pickin' she seems to be channelling Kathleen Hanna on an almost surf beat, and she even attempts rap on 'Rap For Rejection' which is surprisingly good.
I also love how she really shows her feminist colours on this album, in 'Rap for Rejection' she sings about sexism in all it's form and shapes, from men calling her a lesbian for refusing to give her phone number, to only finding the music magazines in the men's section of the news-stands. Then there's my personal favourite 'All Talk' where she sings 'You have a problem with me 'cause I'm a girl, I'm a feminist and if that offends you, then fuck you'. But she also has songs about friendship, breaking up, and feeling like a freak.
'Girl Talk' is a punk album with a feminist, female empowerment soul behind it, and lyrics that I'm sure most girls will relate to in some way. Highly recommended!
Sounds great!
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