EP Review: Nadine Shah – Dreary Town

The second EP from young, London-based Nadine Shah, Dreary Town, continues to demonstrate the sheer power of Shah’s vocals. Mystical and expressive, mellifluous and melancholic, her voice is tinged with that mysterious near-eastern smokiness, and always hovers just below a haunting wail. She might be twenty or she might be forty—there is no deciphering the rich timelessness of her timbre, and any of her songs will captivate. The tragic lament of “Bobby Heron” is held firm by resolute guitar strums, ominous drums and mournful sleigh-bells, allowing Shahs’ voice to pass through fearful melodic drops to spine-tingling effect. “Cry Me A River” has a touch of soft piano and cautious bass, but mostly relies on the slow, arresting vocals, which exert a hypnotic pull of regretful despair. “Dreary Town” takes up a tremulously plucked guitar and chiding bell melodies to supplement it’s trepidatious escapist yearning. Certainly this is not music for happy moments, but it exhales powerful, evocative emotions, and you will be unable to listen without being moved.