Brit and Novello Award champ, Nerina Pallot, has thrown the musical realm into a frenzy with her sixth album, Stay Lucky.
Recorded in just two weekends at London’s very own RAK studios, Stay Lucky is an album that includes some scorching collabs. Featuring the likes of Bernad Butler, Markus Feehily, and Rod Thomas (AKA Bright Light Bright Light) the list is seemingly endless. Needless to say, Pallot remains the overall leading lady, seducing us into obligatory submission with her sugary vocals, peppered with the perfect amount of melancholy.
With a faultless, heavily impassioned tone, it’s impossible not to envisage the person each of these ballads is dedicated to. Pallot becomes the alluring, mythological Siren to our ravenous sailors – particularly during “Come Into My Room”, where the vocal lines are wholly tantalising.
“Man Didn’t Walk on the Moon” leaves the biggest impression, boasting dazzling electric guitar riffs to accompany funky synths (analogue, as she began writing on a Juno, thus explaining the opening tracks name). Paired with warm bass lines, the track simmers just below the boil – also, have I mentioned the girl has one hell of a voice?
Indeed, it’s a tune that dares you to sing and prance around the house in a rebellious teen surge, putting a middle finger up to accompany “My daddy don’t care cause he’s on vocation/He left a little stash it’s a sweet occasion.” What’s not to love?! I wish my dad could leave me a little bit of beer money. Reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac’s timeless track “Dreams”,”Man Didn’t Walk on the Moon” sees Pallot continue to vocally invoke the essence of the deity Stevie Nicks. It goes without saying, if you’re a fan of the 70s, Stay Lucky is well worth a nosy.
Flecks of jazz creep into Stay Lucky’s criteria, with Pallot dipping her toes into the ongoing jazz revival (pretty sure Damien Chazelle’s Lala Land is partly to blame). Listen out for songs marinated in jazz piano (played by none other than Pallot herself) and the soaring sax solo in “Better” that’s guaranteed to make you melt.
Like a jazz score, Pallot’s album is an influx of the unpredictable. Swooning with palpable lust, it unleashes a host of stripped back, exposed tracks, whilst also soothing your summertime sadness courtesy of buoyant and catchy melodies. It’s ingenious – and of no surprise – given Pallot’s adoration of Joni Mitchell, whose influence is unmistakeable.
Stay Lucky is a carefully curated offering by Pallot. Featuring 10 glorious tracks, she has managed to create a host of tunes, tailored to every possible mood. Pallot’s lyrical depth and sweeping vocals reveal a vulnerability to her character, meaning it’s almost impossible not to empathise with, making Stay Lucky her most personal, heart warming and direct album yet.
Promoting Pallot as a perfectly autonomous young woman, she puts her individual stamp on feelings of romance, disillusionment, family, social and environmental ideals. Pallot encourages hope and optimism explicitly – perfectly summarised by the album’s title – a message that will be gobbled up by a world cowering under a nuclear shadow. We have one planet and its one we share.
So, I’m not asking you, I’m telling you to tune into Stay Lucky. Set for release on October 13th, it’s time you had a field day with Pallot’s album, inducing a mixture of both sobs and smiles.
Stay Lucky‘s track listing:
1. Juno
2. Bring Him Fire
3. Man Didn’t Walk On The Moon
4. Come Into My Room
5. Stay Lucky
6. Better
7. Heart Is A Lonely Hunter
8. All Gold
9. Come Back To Bed
10. Bird
