Nowhere Girl – Nicky Schrire (reviewed by T. Bebedor)

At the tail end of March I stumbled upon a singer songwriter asking for people to write reviews of her latest release which was due out at the start of June and, after hearing a few things here and there, I immediately volunteered.

I reviewed the single ‘Love is for the Birds’ in March and not only was I impressed but I returned to the album more often than a proverbial sweetie jar, but I was a good boy, I didn’t give in to temptation to hear the rest of the album until it was time to review it, and now I find myself there.

To call it jazz would be to give it such a narrow box that would exclude it from other genres, I hear pop, theatrical and folk – she has drawn comparisons to Joni Mitchell in the past and you see/hear why.

Title track ‘Nowhere Girl’ is intricate percussive rhythms, frantic melodies and playful lyrics, this is the opener to a musical, the new girl in town, stepping off the bus and discovering New York or the next rung on the ladder of life (while ‘Keep it Simple’ is the closing tune as the curtain is prepared to close another nights entertainment in the theatre that Schrire creates), but the listener is the person stepping from the bus, welcome to your new favourite singer!

I was lucky enough to hear a rough demo of ‘Traveller’, it’s familiar and new all at once and harks back to those songwriters, hunched over a piano, busily scribbling notes onto paper and humming melodies. There’s that word again, melodies, this is the crux of the album; the songs are hummable, approachable and immediately likeable, among these eleven songs are new friends waiting to be made.

Throughout the album, the lyrics seem to cram so much information into each line, conjuring images and creating stories all of their own (check out ‘In Paris’), obviously this is down to the art of songwriting, you’re pulled from emotion to emotion, feeling pleased and blessed but then heartbroken with each carefully delivered word.

I word say ‘Traveller’ is one of my favourite songs on the album, it’s one I returned to when I heard the demo, but having the fully-finished, shiny version is a treat.

The album is piano and vocals led, clever rhythmic choices (particularly on ‘Closer to the Source’ and the piano break on ‘Father’) give the piano licence to soar while those drum brushes create soft accompaniment while Branford Marsalis-esque horns (clarinet? Soprano sax?) sprinkle here and there. It’s a stark arrangement but it works here because everything is subtly done so nothing really takes centre stage yet everything is perfectly pitched.

‘Heart Like a Wheel’ comes a little from leftfield with it’s harmonised vocal intro but what a tune! Honestly, the whole album is an exercise in how to produce something new whilst remaining honest to what has come before. It’s impossible to not stop and simply listen. ‘Love is for the Birds’ is a song I’ve spoken of before, it reeks of New York city, of autumnal sunlight twinkling through an apartment block while a woman sings at a piano. Beautiful.

We move into another direction with the final song ‘My Love’ and it’s nice to finish on a high with a calypso guitar and a production that reminds me of Sting’s post-Police early albums. I’m chuffed that the album lived up to the promise of the single and I’m also over the moon that there is a chance to hear this album live in August when Soho’s Pizza Express hosts the band.