Natalie Prass - Natalie Prass
Critic Score
Based on 24 reviews
2015 Ratings: #33 / 1021
Year End Rank: #45
User Score
Based on 404 ratings
2015 Rank: #110
Liked by 7 people
January 27, 2015 / Release Date
LP / Format
Spacebomb / Label
Chamber Pop / Genre
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
The Guardian

The touchstones here, such as Dusty in Memphis, are all records that revel in a particular kind of musicality, yet this is a record that never feels retro, just timeless.

91
Consequence of Sound

One of the most fully realized and confident debuts in recent memory, Natalie Prass is an expertly sequenced and executed work that transforms decades of American music tradition into something relevant to the 21st century.

90
musicOMH

It makes for a glorious companion to Björk’s Vulnicura but also stands as a confident, masterly debut album in its own right.

90
Under the Radar

Every lyric is perfectly finished off by a musical accent and every instrument is strategically placed in the right place, all coming together to pull on those heartstrings harder than ever.

90
The Line of Best Fit

Natalie Prass is a break-up album that doesn’t wallow; it’s the most realistic take on relationships you’ll have heard in a long time.

90
Drowned in Sound

The rich production and ambitious, multi-faceted arrangements provided by White’s Spacebomb crew are the perfect foil for Prass’s soft, exquisite voice and expressive, tear-stained songs, such that the overwhelming impression of the LP is, against the odds, one of triumph.

84
Paste
It is the debut of a songwriter not struggling to find a voice, but fully formed and confident as all hell.
83
Pitchfork
She sounds comfortable and in charge, wielding her massive band like a wizard’s scepter.
83
A.V. Club

What makes it good is her sophisticated ear for pop arrangements. What sets it apart is her gracefully authoritative, hyper-emotive, and at times semi-animal personality brought out through a masterfully controlled and gloriously weird set of pipes.

83
Pretty Much Amazing
Hats off to this fantastic singer-songwriter for not only emerging from the fog so quickly, but also for crafting a dynamic album that is bigger than its size and very deserving of the praise it will undoubtedly receive.
80
Q Magazine
It's a record that announces its creator as a true force.
80
The Observer
The thrush-like Natalie Prass, 28, has written a heartbreak album that reminds you why such albums are so wonderful and necessary in the first place.
80
The Irish Times
The songs are equally ear-catching, a brilliant hand of tunes which mine love's cruel ways for lines, melodies and harmonies which resonate.
80
The Independent
Prass confirms her unique, tremulous contralto mining depths of despairing devotion on songs clearly triggered by romantic crisis.
80
NOW Magazine
The slower, sentimental ballads can veer into maudlin territory, and the spoken-word Reprise seems utterly unnecessary, but such minor missteps are easily overlooked when the rest is such a satisfying listen.
80
Mojo

Natalie Prass's debut luxuriates in the same effortlessly timeless space as Rumer's Seasons Of My Soul and I Am Shelby Lynne.

80
Uncut

It is ambitious music, even compared with Big Inner and it also sounds rich with potential.

80
Exclaim!

Natalie Prass marks a solid entrance from an assured new talent; it's an absolutely lovely soul record, shot through with the wistfulness of heartbreak country.

80
American Songwriter
This dream of an album sounds like little else currently in the pop field, and the fact that it’s a debut from a relative newcomer makes it even more impressive.
80
No Ripcord

While the tracks rarely challenge the listener with bold experimentation or chord progressions that range much beyond major-and-minor resolves, Natalie Prass provides a concise amalgamation of R&B, funk, baroque pop, and soul with a consistent through-line.

70
FasterLouder

Prass’s winsome coo is a beautiful instrument, and the way her melodies dance and soar can be sublime, but the lyrics fall just a little short of the level that everything else on the record achieves effortlessly.

70
Rolling Stone

Virginia singer-songwriter Natalie Prass has sung backup for Jenny Lewis, and there's more than a passing resemblance to Lewis in the sweet, sunny heartbreak songs on Prass' debut LP.

70
AllMusic

Natalie Prass is the work of a distinctive new artist with a vision that embraces past and present, merging strength and vulnerability to powerful effect.

70
PopMatters

Natalie Prass shows she’s got the complex stuff down pat, but getting back to the basics might be the next stage of development that takes her to another level.

Ari007
88

Gorgeously sad.

ThrowBackG
NR

The day I like 'Christy' is the day this album jumps to a 100. Something about her voice and lyrics just creates these environments in my head. Like a mix of the modern age and the 1950s. Maybe a few moments I've gone through myself. "New music for an old soul" is one way to word it? I dunno. I highly recommend giving this one a spin!

usedtobe
85

Wonderfully old fashioned with splendid orchestral pop leanings and lush production. A winsome surprise.

fUSTERcLUCK
85

One of my personal favourite chamber pop/soft rock albums of the 2010s.

Javier900
95

Just read that apparently, the budget was non-existent for this album. Funny because this is one of the most beautiful albums I've ever heard, as well as one of the best debut albums I think ever. Natalie Prass also just has a voice like no other. The fact that she has under 50,000 listeners on Spotify is insane because this is a once-in-a-generation album.

joan_
83

Feels like a cat purring close to my ears, amazingly soft and sweet pop record with insane production.

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Added on: December 3, 2014