London-based artist Nadine Shah creates songs that wear their influences and deep-seated musical proclivities comfortably on their sleeves. And while the obvious reference points (PJ Harvey, Patti Smith) are not necessarily out of place, Shah’s music exudes a mature confidence that places it squarely in the realm of innovative creation and never feels tied down to any one influence or musical orientation. Her exceptional ability to turn familiar sounds (dense layered guitars, rattling percussion, her intensely personal vocals) and tones into something wholly unique has characterized all her previous releases—from 2012’s Aching Bones EP to the Dreary Town EP which saw release in April of this year. Her debut LP Love Your Dum and Mad is set to be released on July 23rd via R&S Records imprint Apollo Records.
Taking a stab at twisting and contorting the sounds of Shah’s recent single “Dreary Town,” with its tumbling melodies and desolate vocals, UK production duo Cloud Boat (aka Sam Ricketts and Tom Clarke) strip away the track’s aggression and replace it with assorted electronic ephemera—all the while dropping stop-start tribal beats over subtly serpentine synth lines and Shah’s own spliced vocals. Drawing from their own well of electronic experience and a sense of boundless aspiration, Ricketts and Clarke transform “Dreary Town” from an intensely personal narrative into something more closely resembling a minimalist stab of D’n’B inspired dance floor rhythms.
Beats Per Minute is pleased to premiere Cloud Boat’s remix of Nadine Shah’s “Dreary Town.”
MP3: Nadine Shah – “Dreary Town” (Cloud Boat Remix)
