Kate Nash would make a great ‘Best Friend’

Kate Nash

My Best Friend Is You

Polydor Ltd.

Rocks like:… Kate Nash

My Best Friend Is You

Polydor Ltd.

Rocks like: Regina Spektor, Lily Allen

Grade: B+

Among the plethora of female British singers that have risen in popularity over the past few years, I never considered Kate Nash one of my favorites. I found her voice irritating and her lyrics a little too cutesy for my liking. “Pumpkin Soup” was a fun song, but her last album, Made of Bricks, just didn’t do it for me.

That’s why it’s so surprising that I enjoyed her second album, My Best Friend Is You, so much. It doesn’t stray too far from the formula that propelled her to fame in the first place, but she has taken on a more mature sound and her songwriting skills seem to be improving.

The first single off the album, “Do-Wah-Doo,” is maddeningly catchy. The staccato bursts in Nash’s music are reminiscent of scat singing, and they appear frequently on the album. “Take Me to a Higher Plane” sounds a bit too similar to “Do-Wah-Doo,” but at least it is pleasant-sounding repetition.

The word pretty comes to mind when listening to the majority of the songs on the album — Nash has a pretty voice, composes pretty melodies and plays a pretty piano. Though it sometimes results in a monotonous aural haze about halfway through the album, there are certainly moments that bring you back to reality.

“Mansion Song” isn’t really a song at all, at least not at first. What starts out as a spoken outburst of expletives and poignant verse poetry transforms into an underproduced track where what is being said doesn’t seem to be as important as the blaring drums.

“I Hate Seagulls” is beautifully understated and quite sad, whereas “Pickpocket” is cheery to the point of becoming borderline annoying.

Ultimately, Best Friend isn’t going to make any major waves in the music industry — especially an industry overrun with talented British female vocalists — but it may make you think a little more highly of her as an artist.