Everyone’s Listening to Nadia Reid’s Debut

Singer Nadia Reid’s highly rated debut,Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs is included in the Guardian’s annual roundup of “The Albums We Missed” column.

Reviewer Michael Hann says: “It took 24-year-old New Zealander Reid seven years to write the songs for her first album, because ‘I wasn’t sure how to begin, or if I had it in me.’ But this doesn’t sound like an album troubled by musical doubt; Reid’s touch is sure throughout, as is her judgment.

“Her palette isn’t broad, but it’s expertly deployed – on the modal folk of Call the Days, she’s reminiscent of Laura Marling; on Reaching Through, a full band gives her a bit of Teenage Fanclubesque oomph (like Angel Olsen, she’s adept at switching from introspective and soft to loud and rocking); Just to Feel Alive is the kind of indie soul ballad that Matthew E White’s Spacebomb collective specialise in.

“Reid’s voice is wistful and reflective, sometimes blurring the syllables, and it gives this startlingly good debut a feeling of warmth, a welcoming Aga in the musical kitchen.”

Reid’s album was also included in UNCUT magazine’s Best of 2015 list.

She plays at the Sydney Festival, St Stephens Church in Sydney on 10 January.

Reid lives in Port Chalmers.

Original article by Michael Hann, The Guardian, December 17, 2015.