On Your Radar - A speculative retrospective...

The sign of a good girl-band – and here we’re talking the ones that truly endure to place an indelible stamp on a decade of pop history – is how well they make that carefully balanced transition to ‘maturity’. Even the word itself is troublesome, because when we say ‘maturity’, we don’t mean mums dressed up all-sexy and riffing on the success of past glories (Spice Girls re-union anyone?). No, what we mean is that vital crux when the band crystallises within the public consciousness and take that step up to the next level, that degree of success where phrases like ‘national treasure’ and ‘pop greats’ can be employed with heft of not only long-standing enthusiasts, but with the voice of a nation whole.

Girls Aloud did it. Tangled Up (their fourth studio effort), via the cool, glacial beauty of Call The Shots, took them to the kind of band that could sell out arenas at the drop of a hat. Every member was a fully fledged celebrity (and woman) in their own right and with this album, that individualism was allowed to shine through in a way only glimpsed at before. It was a pop album that breathed richness and complexity in a way they only bettered in follow-up Out of Control.

And now the Saturdays stand at this point too – if we’re going by full studio albums (so Chasing Lights, Wordshaker and On Your Radar), they’re due their Tangled Up moment with their next release. And about time too. On Your Radar went by criminally underrated, charting poorly and receiving lukewarm reviews. Within a month of its release, it seemed to be already forgotten, in much the same way Wordshaker had before it. What was going wrong? What was stopping the Saturdays from becoming a band that could not only charm the airwaves with pop gems, but really make a stand in the album charts and linger around for weeks on end like your Adele types.

What did the reviewers (and perhaps more importantly, the public) want from On Your Radar? Maybe they wanted more depth, more meaning. But while On Your Radar might not be no 21, replete with love-lorn intensity and backstory, I’d argue it has meaning aplenty within it. As a pop album, it stands as brilliantly post-modern – an effort so sleekly synthesized that it almost becomes a girlband LP about being in a girlband. It posits the five Saturday girls as characters within their own contemporary drama, a world of celebrity get-ups, drink and glamour. It’s exciting, intoxicating; a world where the pace never dies and the every night holds its possibilities.

And this is the message the album sells to its fans. From the sexual politics and dancefloor allure of Get Ready Get Set and Move On U, the album propels itself forth on a hyper-drive of future-synths and breathy appeal. The album tells its listener: ‘this is the high life. We’re showing you what it’s like, now do you want a piece of it too?’. With a rub of well-oiled palms it invites you in throw the open door to a boutique paradise of hedonism, a sort of Great Gatsby for the pop age.

We hear the delectable Una Healy is working with Nerina Pallot on material for the next Saturdays LP – and for those in the pop-know, this is basically knee-tremblingly good stuff. Add in the fact there’ll be more Xenomania tracks (All Fired Up is for my money one of the best singles The Sats have ever released), and there really is the suggestion that the next Sats album could very well be ‘their’ Tangled Up. The girls still don’t have that long aspired-for No. 1 – maybe this time, that dream will finally become a reality. God knows, they deserve it.

Nerina Pallot - All Bets Are Off (We Are The Chatterley​s Mix)

Last year, with Nerina Pallot's Year of the Wolf album on the verge of release, the ever delightful pop songstress turned out a gloriously fizzy synth rework of lead single Put Your Hands Up. And now, ushering in a Deluxe Edition re-release of the album, Nerina steps up to treat her fans to another We Are The Chatterleys mix.

The smooth, balladic tones of All Bets Are Off are transformed into a trembling, sultry alt-electro version; Nerina's vocals as always achieving a level of crisp, soaring delicacy that borders the sublime. Like the wind on the cusp of a budding spring morning, it teases and soothes - the embodiment of flowering British songwriting talent.

The deluxe edition of Year of the Wolf is set for a 30th January release date and will feature three new tracks alongside six cover versions recorded for the BBC:

Crazy In Love [Beyonce cover from Dermot O’Leary]
Rocket Man [Elton John cover from Weekend Wogan]
The Chime Of A City Clock [Nick Drake cover from Jools Holland]
Someone To Watch Over Me [Gershwin song taken from Friday Night Is Music Night]
Life On Mars [David Bowie cover taken from Friday Night Is Music Night]
High & Dry [Radiohead cover taken from In Concert, Abbey Road]

[Official Video] Nerina Pallot - All Bets Are Off

Here's the new video from Nerina Pallot, and isn't it pretty! All Bets Are Off is one of the most soulful, passionate tracks from her stellar Year of the Wolf album and the delicate, snowy video makes us wish it was still Christmas, the smell of roast dinner and pine trees wafting through the air. Oh, with good company and good cheer warming our hearts.

The track has already shot straight to Radio 2's A list and Nerina's appeal is even making waves abroad - she's also busy in Germany acting as a guest mentor on The Voice (so basically like how Jessie J was to Tulisa on last year's X Factor).

All Bets Are Off is released on the 30th January.

Nerina Pallot - All Bets Are Off

All Bets Are Off has long been one of my favourites from Nerina Pallot's latest LP, so it's great to hear it'll be getting a full single release early next year.

Revolving in the languishing string-laced grandeur of strings and classy retro-pop flavours, the track is the crystallisation of everything the album stands as - a beautiful personification of human emotion and every aspect it can betray of ourselves.

Currently busy in Germany on their version of The Voice (don't worry, we'll be getting our very own version of the show in the UK next year), Nerina has been beguiling the hearts of people everywhere. If there ever was a female star that summed up in such simple prettiness what it means to be a quality singer songwriter, it's Nerina.

As the unexpected little harp refrain creeps in at the tail end of the track, you're left with an intense, aching longing. It's like the last days of Christmas, as the tree comes down and work beckons again - those few dreamy weeks cut short once again. For just that short while, everything was 'just right'.

All Bets Are Off is released on the 30th January.

Nerina Pallot - All Bets Are Off by Nerina Pallot

Nerina Pallot covers Radiohead's 'High And Dry'

What with the plethora of breathy, slow piano versions of songs doing the rounds at the moment on an assortment of random adverts, you'd be forgiven for not wanting to ever hear another. But wait, because Nerina Pallot is here to save the day.

Her version of Radiohead's classic High And Dry works so well because it feels genuine, a heartfelt statement of intent rather than these cheap and thoughtless commercially driven ad covers. Nerina's vocals are delicately, sensually soulful - elevating the haunting, ethereal tones of the original to a whole new level of magnificence.

Properly beautiful.

Listen to the cover version on Radio 2's online player - 1.42 into the show.

Nerina Pallot - Turn Me On Again

Nerina Pallot's Year Of The Wolf album is without a doubt one of the best records of the year. That goes without saying. I saw a great review of it the other day where it was described as the next logical step for anyone lured in by Adele's songcraftery - and sure, both records excel in both their subject matter and the way they pair it to a luxurious, retro-tinged production.

But in truth, Nerina's record holds far, far more depth to it, and songs like Turn Me On Again - the next single to be taken from the album - are the living proof of that.

I had the good fortune to catch Nerina live a couple of times last month and the affection she had for this track in particular was clear. She treated it with such tenderness, such delicate playfulness, that you couldn't help but fall in love with her.

With its miniature detail of all those wonderful little things we notice in the people we feel for, the song feels refreshingly honest; a breezy new take on just what it means to be in love.

I love Nerina's own description of what the track is all about, 'It's essentially a song about shagging, but specifically the bit before you've seen the goods and you're in that flirty, chemistry soaked phase. The phase before you find out they still live with their Mum and/or have a wife and kids tucked away somewhere.'

There you have it - it's a song about shagging; plain and simple. That flirtiness she talks about is there in every ad lib and harmony, oozing out of the lyrics - and we love the track for it.

Leaping from the hushed beauty of the verses to the rousing emotion of the choruses, just as she did in massive airplay hit Put Your Hands Up, Nerina takes us with her on her journey through love. Classy and enchanting in equal measures, Turn Me On Again stands as a real life-affirming anthem.

Nerina also heads out on tour for a series of Autumn dates later this year:

Opera House, Jersey - 16 September
Oran Mor, Glasgow - 2 October
Academy 2, Manchester - 4 October
Academy 2, Birmngham - 5 October
Shepherds Bush Empire, London - 6 October

Turn Me On Again is released on the 22nd August.

Nerina Pallot live at St. Pancras Station - The Station Sessions

Of all the places you could conceivably hold a gig, there's something undeniably charming and oh so British about having it in a station.

And at St. Pancras, you really have the creme de la creme of stations. There, in the high vaulted Eurostar terminal, the delightful Nerina Pallot's voice could truly soar, enchanting every one of the commuters rushing through.

Set up on a tiny stage with a string quartet arrayed behind her, a sizeable huddle of people grouped around, listening as she delivered a selection of tracks from her soon-to-be Top 10 album Year Of The Wolf as well as a few old favourites like Sophia.

There was a real immediacy to the gig, something we were all too readily reminded of as the station announcer boomed out over the tannoy, wittering on about left-luggage. Nerina, bless her heart, carried on, wonderfully composed and charming for the gig's entire hour long duration.

Sipping from a glass of wine, she addressed the audience in both English and French; a lovely reminder of the gateway to the European continent we were all standing in - St. Pancras International indeed.

Much as Nerina's new album is a meeting of the old and new, so to is the station itself, archaic brickwork  and iron facing up to glass and boutique snack bars. A meeting of worlds, a melting pot of countless people, and right in the middle - holding everyone's attention - Nerina herself.

'Hi restaurant people!' she announced, waving cheerily up at the diners on the balcony above the stage. At another point, she told how her track History Boys always made her emotional - so much so that she had been moved to tears earlier in the week when she performed it - yet sing it she did, and beautifully.

In this place of frantic busyness, there was there for a moment, an instant of intense personal connection. And that, in a way, is what these Station Sessions are about - the audience so close to the performers they can see the whites of their eyes. All the usual technical complexities of a gig stripped away, just quality music at its very best.

Year Of The Wolf is available to purchase now.

Nerina Pallot - Year Of The Wolf

When looking to the long lost past it's oh so easy to fall into the trap of becoming a cheesy pastiche. But when things go right, the results can sound so thoroughly authentic they could quite easily sit alongside the originals.

And such can be said of Nerina Pallot's fourth album Year Of The Wolf - a dreamy, wonderful record that mines deep into the sounds of the 60s and 70s. And the real joy is that it works so well because it manages to keep that air of authenticity intact while underpinning it with all the contemporary pop production you'd expect from a songwriter of Pallot's calibre.

Put Your Hands Up is an inspired opener to the record, and quite simply one of the best pop tracks of the year. Here, as with the majority of the songs on the album, Nerina's vocals remain the focal point - in this instance starting off sultry and hushed, but transforming in an instant into a powerhouse Dionne Warwick-esque performance. Put Your Hands Up revolves in such an inherent sense of soulfulness that you can't help but feel head over heels in love with its chorus.

Buzzing with producer Bernard Butler's guitars (him of Suede and Duffy fame), the track brings to mind the timeless charms of the Rolling Stones' Satisfaction, but here dolled up with Pallot's charm - pushing every bit of the unadulterated joy the song's title reflects.

Those punches of guitar are something of a recurring theme on Year Of The Wolf, and while the album always feels effortlessly cool and chilled-out, it still manages to find time to let loose in moments like these. Perhaps it's testament to Nerina lending her songwriting talents to a certain Kylie Minogue recently (she co-wrote Better Than Today and Aphrodite from the Australian songstress's most recent album), but there's a distinct bouncy happiness stamped across the album's upbeat tracks, and the record is all the better for it. This is a fun record, and never is that emphasised more than on the ELO styled I Think, a personal favourite of mine.

One word to sum up the album? Rich. And not just Nerina's honeyed vocals, but also the swirling, chocolatey depths of the tracks themselves. Whether its the reverb-heavy guitar of If I Lost You Now, which shimmers like a Tarantino movie soundtrack - or the delicate harp outro of All Bets Are Off - the album never ceases to surprise with its intricacy.

I'm reminded of *those* supermarket adverts, you know the ones... You see, this isn't just a good album, but it's a good Nerina Pallot album - and that's something that lifts it to another level of greatness.

In a year where female singer-songwriters have been ten-a-penny, Nerina more than holds her own. Songs like This Will Be Our Year or Will You Still Love Me are the kind of track that could easily appear on an Adele album; but where Adele is all about forceful and brazen passion in her delivery, Nerina affects her songs with a far more delicate tint. There's a cute almost-shyness to the album which serves to give it so much more tenderness.

Another personal highlight of mine is Butterfly, the album's most guitar-orientated track. With a melody that recalls David Bowie's Heroes, it conjures up images of endless American highways that stretch away across the plains. Here, like so many tracks on Year Of The Wolf, Nerina's personality shines through so well - something that so many singers, no matter how technically accomplished they might be, struggle with.

This album sees Pallot re-signing with a major label, and with Put Your Hands Up already becoming a sizeable airplay hit, Year Of The Wolf deserves every bit of the critical acclaim it has already received. Go out and buy it - because overlooking such a pop gem as this would be quite frankly criminal.

Year Of The Wolf is available to download now.

New releases round-up - 13th June 2011

Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns +

An exciting re-release of the band's stellar A Thousand Suns album. This multi-disc version features a live CD recorded at the band's Madrid tour date where tracks from the current album are mixed in with old favourites. Classics like Numb and In The End make an appearance, ensuring you can rock to your heart's content.

Download

Nerina Pallot - Year of the Wolf

Classy, immensely soulful retro-pop from this lovely lady - you may remember her from 2006 single Everybody's Gone To War, but this new record sees her striking out in new, bold directions. Lead single Put Your Hands Up is one of the best pop records of the year, without a doubt, and makes for a punchy intro to the album.

Download

Take That - Progressed

In another 2 CD re-release this week, Take That pump their multi-million selling Progress album with eight new tracks and change the cover from Yellow to Red. Includes the magnificent electro-stomp of Love Love, taken from the soundtrack of the new X Men movie. Oh, and all nicely timed to tie in with the TT boys' massive stadium tour currently zipping up and down the UK.

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Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Make A Scene

Like Nerina, Sophie is an incredibly experienced hand in the pop game now, and the shiny, glistening hooks of Make A Scene make for a welcome return. It's been four years since her last album and in that time we've seen her collaborate with the Freemasons on the fantastic Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer), a track sure to have you partying long into the night. New single Starlight is a real treat too.

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