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CRITIC REVIEWS
100
You absolutely can hear the fingerprints of Prass' influences across these tracks, but as well as the Dusty Springfield and Karen Carpenter tones that colour her first record, there's bits of Dionne Warwick, Laura Nyro and Diana Ross. More than that though, you're hearing a songwriter who seems to know exactly what she wants to make, and has all the tools to do that. A glorious, glorious album.
85
It's a truly difficult album to find flaw with and one that should be considered essential listening for any fans or possible converts to the wonderful world of alternative female singer/songwriting.
83
Faced with the unexpected, Prass evolved, trading inward-facing confessionalism for outward-facing perseverance and releasing one of 2018’s minor masterpieces in the process. Plus, you can most certainly dance to it.
82
The result is a nuanced sophomore album that knows its place in the world; a socially conscious albums that any can dance out their grief to.
80
Despite toying with different genre, the ethos of Prass’ self-titled debut album is weaved throughout the record.
80
Perfectly combining vintage hues and hazy vocal melodies with slick synth sounds and Janet Jackson drum machines, Prass succeeds in creating old-meets-new funk-soul flawlessly, as she deviates from the lavish opulence of her debut.
80
On ‘The Future And The Past’, the singer continues down the same rich and luxurious musical path established on her acclaimed self-titled debut but amps up the banger count on some gloriously perky and poised funky cuts like opener ‘Oh My’ and the smooth, assured swing of single ‘Short Court Style’.
80
You can trace its musical roots, but The Future and the Past never feels self-consciously retro, never sounds like pastiche.
80
She needed to reconcile these new, charged numbers with what remained from her original sections, songs triggered by the end of a "toxic relationship." Remarkably, the finished album, The Future and the Past, threads this needle with aplomb, revealing a far more self-assured artist than the delicate torch-balladeer we first met on her 2015 self-titled debut.
80
There is evolution on The Future and the Past and a real sense that Prass has done what she set out to do: make an album that, like the work of Marvin Gaye, gets people thinking and resolving to take action, all the while shaking their hips to the undeniable groove.
80
With increasingly assured songwriting, Natalie Prass demonstrates that she is on top of her game in the here and now.
80
She uses strong R&B arrangements to create beats that evoke one's physicality. Prass might be singing about a higher love, but it's one whose corporeal interactions raise the body and the soul.
80
Though she doesn’t shy away from the various ailments afflicting the world in 2018, Prass takes her conclusions to the dancefloor, not the barricades, foregrounding the medium rather than the message.
80
An impressive step forward, an album that finds Natalie Prass straddling the border between the future and the past, just as she promised.
77
Listening as Prass struggles through the muck, what’s clear is that The Future and the Past is really about the present—about finding ways to push through each day without giving over to despondency. This ship may be going down, but these songs are another set of buoys fighting to keep it afloat.
75
The Future ... cements Prass as one of this generation’s most promising musicians, able to scrap an entire album and birth such a compelling new one in its place. It doesn’t matter what the scrapped one sounds like, really: it feels like this is the album she was meant to make.
70
Natalie Prass’s voice is a lot more diverse this time around. Rather than sticking to her self-stylized sweet vulnerable tone throughout, it changes character and personality per song. It takes away her distinctive identity but creates an eclectic listen.
70
This album could easily be written off as being derivative and stale, but when you spend more than 30 seconds thinking about it, you realise just how rare and unique this sound actually is in 2018. And as Natalie Prass clearly has a great love for the music that inspires her and has done a great job of making her new music sound like it, her dedication to nostalgia should be applauded – even if there’s just too much of it on this record.
70
The Future and the Past has a glossy, nostalgic sheen, but that only makes Prass' messages about getting past the world's current ills land harder.
60
Over length of 12 tracks, the soul/G-funk stuff becomes a little one-note, while the Disney-fied material lacks the charm that makes Prass such an engaging, idiosyncratic performer.
Prass pushes herself forward; moving beyond the chamber pop-ladden contemporary soul of her debut and revisions herself with a synth-heavy record that any fan of Prince or his successors would loathe to miss out on. Absolute Bliss.
Prass' music combines elements of jazz, funk, soul and pop effortlessly. The result is an eclectic mix of songs that you can't help dancing to.
Favourite tracks: Oh My, Sisters
Favourite tracks: Oh My, Sisters
I think I liked Natalie's debut more than close to anyone (if my score is any indication) so I came into this album with high hopes and the expectation I'd be let down. After a few listens, I don't think I was. The direction is completely different from her debut, both lyrically and musically, but it pays off. The production remains top notch, and the intstrumentation is pretty interesting (especially on songs like Hot For the Mountain). And while the second half of the album teeters a bit, ... read more
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Year End Lists
| #15 | / | The Guardian |
| #15 | / | Under the Radar |
| #24 | / | American Songwriter |
| #28 | / | The Skinny |
| #35 | / | No Ripcord |
| #36 | / | musicOMH |
| #58 | / | God Is In The TV |
| #59 | / | Piccadilly Records |
| #59 | / | PopMatters |
| #69 | / | Uncut |
More Lists
Track List
- Oh My
- Short Court Style
- Interlude: Your Fire
- The Fire
- Hot For the Mountain
- Lost
- Sisters
- Never Too Late
- Ship Go Down
- Nothing To Say
- Far From You
- Ain't Nobody
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Added on: February 26, 2018