Review of 'Dirty Little Word'
By Jim Hall and Russ Elliot from Musical Discoveries
28/12/2007
Paris-born singer-songwriter Natascha Sohl announced herself to the world in 2004 when she released her debut offering Strange Fascination (Granite Music (UK), 5 036098 003888, 2003). A promising album of addictive pop-rock that garnered positive reviews and saw Natascha embark on a string of live performances, including a performance of lead single "Are You Ready" at the 20th Anniversary Celebration of Music Radio and a handful of acoustic performances in New York during the summer of the same year. Other notable achievements post-Strange Fascination include performing for Children In Need, and singing the UK National Anthem 'a capella' in Wembley Arena. She's been kept busy, and now, after finding time to return to the studio and re-focus, she presents us with a second full-length album entitled: Dirty Little Word. Several years have passed since her debut saw light, and this is the album Natascha hopes will see her build upon a solid start and make use of the experience gained through the gift of such past diverse live performances and opportunities.
The premise is much like that of Strange Fascination (Granite Music (UK), 2007). Thirteen tracks are wrapped in a rich, full production that feels more polished and impacting than the slightly raw edge that was both a strength and weakness on Natascha's debut. The songs have that little more fight and energy to them, helped by Natascha's vocals that feel more whole, her delivery more confident and adventurous.
"Naked" opens with warm guitar and swaying vocals before a mid-paced verse lets Natascha's softer vocal style shine. The chorus is where we see her at her best as a feisty, energetic delivery bursts this song to life, you sense she really means it as she cries: "I can't have it and I can't hold it back" with determination. A hook-filled number and a great way to launch you into the album. Title track "Dirty Little Word" is similarly filled with an edgy individuality as Natascha deals with the 'other side' of love, crisp distorted guitar driving a stadium-filling chorus as she soars: "Love is just a dirty little word". Simplistic instrumentation of steady drums and pacing bass allows the vocals to take prominence in a straight-out pop anthem.
"Beauty In The Silence" introduces itself with acoustic pluckings and soft vocal-work, leading to a catchy, melodicious chorus which again sees Natascha shine as she effortlessly rises above the simple drums and guitar, singing of the strength gained from leaving her past behind and finding solace in the gift of silence: "Cause there is beauty in the silence, I'm feeling so much better now".
The album highlight comes in the eighth song,"Fade." A moving tale of a day just like any other that turned into something much more after the delivery of some tragic news. Natascha's fragile vocals tell the tale, hovering amongst delicate guitar melodies and acoustic strumming before a touching chorus breaks through the melancholy, one as memorable as it is emotional which sees Natascha promise to herself: "I will carry you inside, like a flame that will not die, with a love that will not fade" It's a song fittingly chosen to feature in US hit teen drama series Newport Harbour, exposure which can only enhance her emerging profile.
Subtle keyboards enhance an equally emotional chorus in following song "Yesterday's Rain" with closer "Afterglow" bringing the album to a delicate close as haunting strings and acoustic guitar build to a middle-eastern sounding chorus with vocal hums from Natascha mixing with swirling melodies and fading tabla beats. Listeners will especially admire the production quality of "I'm Not Listening" and orchestral arrangement of "If I Was A Boy".
Dirty Little Word has seen Natascha Sohl rise in confidence as she delivers an album formed through both the musical and life experience she has no doubt gained over the past few years since her debut release Strange Fascination. Lyrically, she tackles topics real to her and delivers them with vocals full of ability and that were destined for the pop-rock anthems they fill in this latest album. A strong production and easy-on-the-ears instrumentation allows Natascha to take centre stage and it's a challenge she certainly gives her all towards.
Natascha's song writing largely stays inside the tried and tested formula, yet the memorability of each individual song is stronger than on her debut as Dirty Little Word presents a matured, accomplished sound that should appeal to many. Order the limited edition of this album at CDBaby. It seems Natascha Sohl looks set to deservedly grow in popularity and exposure, hoping to share with the world the music that means so much to her, while connecting with as many as is possible along the way.
Strange Facination Review
by Jim Hall and Russ Elliot from Musical Discoveries
27 December 2007
Singer-songwriter Natascha Sohl was born outside of Paris and moved to the U.K at just nine months of age. She progressed through the first year of Brunel University studying Film and T.V before the need to take hold of a love of music, and the performance of it saw her crucially leave Brunel and enroll instead at The Academy Of Contemporary Music in Guildford, gaining a higher diploma in vocals. Fast forward through the initial time spent in her first band, before deciding to go it alone and being consumed in writing, recording and performing solidly, to 2004. The year that saw the release of Natascha's debut release, Strange Fascination (Granite Music (UK), 5 036098 003888, 2003). With this, we are treated to a first glance into the lyrical ideas and song-writing along with vocal abilities of Natascha, as she presents a collection of vibrant pop-rock songs fresh with the feel of an individual desperate to show everyone just what she can do.
Collaborating with a number of experienced musicians for this album, the twelve tracks on offer are played out with an assured confidence as the standard drums, guitar, bass instruments provide a solid backing to Natascha's edgy, strong vocals. Lyrically, we find Natascha covering themes ranging from love, to loss, to ambition, dreams and beyond and these lyrics certainly stand out and clearly mean a lot to this singer as she belts out each word with a real passion.
"Are You Ready?" serves as a catchy, head-nodding opener. Simplistic drum and guitar work creates an almost jazzy edge, enhanced by Natascha's enticing, alluring vocal melodies, as her voice bounces atop the instrumentation, slowing to a smoother tone set against gentle piano as she asks: "Are you ready for me? Let me show you how good I can be for you." A well chosen first single, giving you a feel for the flavour of the whole album. "Give It All Away"--clearly an album standout--presents a chunky bass line and cymbal-heavy drum work in a song that sees Natascha's vocals at their most edgy and fierce, the memorable chorus pulling together an anthemic pop number that will surely have crowds fists raised high in a live environment.
Gritty beats appear for "My Needs", chugging their way underneath piano and the alluring voice of Natascha, who strains to sing of a longing for her needs to be understood. "Missing you, missing you sometimes" she croons with a pained fragility in a touching bridge. The album progresses in a similar fashion of short, sharp bursts of pop-rock that are helped by a rich, warm production. "Another Day" features fast-paced vocals building to a distorted chorus of guitar and Natascha's hovering, aggressive vocal cries whilst "I Didn't Know" slows things down with soft drum work and clean guitar jangles, an explosive, melody-filled chorus breaking through this energetic number. Closing song "Wishful Thinking" opens with Natascha's vocals sounding distanced against drums that settle into a rapid groove, lyrically focusing on the desperate dreams of those wanting to make it big: "Do you know what you're wishing for?" A song simplistic in structure, and an ideal conclusion to the album.
Strange Fascination is an album filled with promise. Vocally, Natascha's voice is already swimming with confidence, drive and ambition as she sings of topics relevant to her own life, and certainly to the life of others who can no doubt relate. The production is impressive, and helps to breathe life to each song. The song-structures are largely of the tried and tested formula, and there is a risk of the formulaic nature creeping into the album that is it's main weakness. It's up to Natascha to stay focused and as driven as she seems to be with this debut release, and take a solid, enjoyable collection of pop-rock anthems to that next level, her follow-up release. An engaging first insight into a lady from which you sense there is much more to come
Review by David Randall
Printed from: http://www.getreadytorock.com/reviews2007/natascha_sohl4.htm
NATASCHA SOHL "Dirty Little Word" (Pre-Release) Granite Music (2007)
You can't really help rooting for Natascha Sohl. Whisked away to a US recording hot-house last year, she's come back with the 'difficult' second album and has emerged triumphant. A few dollars lighter maybe, but she's certainly gained in musical experience and maturity.
Shortly after GRTR! started in 2003 we heard her first CD and thought it was something special: since then Natascha has been one of our favourites, we caught her showcase gig in London, and then she packed her bags for New York. Was it our after-shave?
If there is a maturity of both songwriting and musicianship on this latest album, there's also a realization that we're heading off into difficult pastures, a territory firmly marked out by Sheryl Crow, Shania Twain,
Patty Griffin at the adult end and Avril Lavigne and Pink at the other.
'Dirty Little Word' is modern, uncompromising, and with very little filler. The style throughout is modern, guitar-driven, and sassy without being too clichéd.
Whilst most of the 13 tracks have an immediacy of appeal, some leap out on first listen.
The opening track 'Naked' may be familiar as it was the first single to trail the album with 'I'm Not Listening' an additional track. Both are among the album standouts.
'I'm Not Listening' has some interesting effects and synth orchestration and builds dramatically to a freaky psychedelic sub-Beatlesque finale.
The title track is another strong verse-chorus sing-a-long whilst 'If I Was A Boy' has a nice sting in the lyrics and was a highlight of Natascha's Cambridge set this summer.
'Yesterday's Rain' is another stunner. I'm sure the basic riff sounds far too familiar (The Corrs 'Forgiven Not Forgotten' comes to mind) but who the hell cares anyway. This is gargantuan pop rock of a type that American radio will gobble up like some sort of audible bagel. Perhaps lacking a suitable power rock guitar solo especially in the end play-out which for me ends far, far, too soon.
If there are weaker tracks - 'Nothing Else Matters' and 'Body Beautiful' - it has to be where Natascha sounds like a Bangle or a younger Suzie Quatro - but without the smell of leather. Ironically these tracks will go down really well in Central Europe.
'Fade' is an attractive mid-tempo ballad and 'Afterglow' is acoustic with effective use of strings and eastern motifs. Both show that Natascha can slow things down when necessary and, frankly, an all-acoustic album would be interesting.
To my time-weary lugholes, Natascha does have a similarity to post-Spice Melanie C. That shouldn't put anyone off because - no matter what your mate says - Melanie C has a belting voice and produces quality pop rock. She's also independent and feisty - two admirable qualities in any lady.
Melanie got lucky in Germany and Spain although her latest CD is less rocky: perhaps Natascha will find her fortune across Europe rather than in the overcrowded US marketplace?
Elsewhere on the album, 'I'm So Happy' has the sort of rolling riff that J Geils Band patented with 'Centerfold' and 'Hands Off My Past' is yet another standout: Natascha does the slow-burn-with-urgency really well, and a few more sprinkled through this gold dust would have been appreciated.
'Dirty Little Word' may not be Natascha's defining work - I'm sure she has a Joss Stone sort of album in her too - but she now has the tunes, the cred, the springboard, to give herself the best chance in an unnervingly fickle industry.
I think I'll celebrate with some new after-shave.
Review of "Dirty Little Word"
by Xavier P. and RadioIndy.com
15/10/2007
Two simple yet assuring words come to mind upon listening to Natascha Sohl’s rock/pop debut entitled “Dirty Little Word”: upcoming star! It is unquestioned that this gripping release will turn heads in today’s music scene. One of the most appealing aspects of this CD is Natascha’s strong-willed vocal performances, likened to a cross between Pink and Kelly Clarkson! “Beauty in the Silence” shows off Natascha’s powerful timbre backed by a more pop-driven acoustic sound. “If I Was A Boy” takes on a dark rock edge, mirroring its lyrical discontent with the inequality women face in today’s male-driven society. Song after song, catchy electric guitar riffs, hard-hitting drum arrangements, memorable lyrics, and top-notch production provide unforgettable tracks! “Dirty Little Word” is one CD that fans of Pink and Alanis Morissette must have!
TRACK : BODY BEAUTIFUL:
Excellent demo, vocals, tracks, complete with harmonic surprises. The bridge lyric is absolutely essential in displaying the main message of this song – which turns out to be much deeper than first thought.
I liked that this song never backed down lyrically from the point the writers were making about how the public idolizes the most superficial qualities of fame; and the way the song held together musically with interesting chord changes and a rocking track.
I like Natasha's song …… Her voice is unique and strong and very commercial. …… overall it is a great little pop song and the performance is very good.
Judges’ feedback : We Are Listening
Album review from - V Magazine
6/10/2005:
Natascha Sohl - "Strange Fascination" (Granite Music)
Natascha is different from the other singers here: she rocks! The 13 tracks on this self-penned album are all catchy and passionate, and are sure to produce more than a few lit cigarette lighters when she performs live. While many female solo singers try to ape Britney,
Natascha sticks to straightahead rock, complete with crunchy guitars, soaring choruses and massive drums. The stripped down production allows each song and her voice to breathe. Strange Fascination has a similar feel to Texas's 1989 debut, Southside. While Natascha does not have the vocal dexterity of Sharleen Spiteri, she can produce foot-stompin' janglers, like Giving It All Away and the funky, bluesy What You Want. Natascha covers her bases here, and does it very well.
David Block
posted on CDBaby.com
17/09/2007:
Finally, a great record from start to finish.
This is a record that hits you from Song #1 and keeps your interest until song #13. These tracks are SMOKIN! Who is this girl and when is the rest of the world going to discover her? The lyrics are for real and Dirty Little Word rocks the f@#$ out! But you had a me at NAKED and kept me at HANDS OFF MY PAST.
Album review by Elly Roberts
www.dvdfever.co.uk and www.allgigs.co.uk
January 2005:
‘Strange Fascination’
Loaded albums don’t come much more loaded.
This smoking gun of a CD will no doubt impress industry people. Funny it hasn’t been picked up by the punters and made some serious progress. Firing on all cylinders, the glamorous named pussycat shows not only strength in depth but diversity.
There’s so much on offer here it’s mindblowing, with crossover appeal to the teeny brigade to mamas and papas – but it’s serious music - so don’t be fooled.
Packing a real punch, (mustn’t forget the delicate stuff either) Sohl is destined to be the next rock-chic, if she gets the lucky breaks. Her ‘strange fascination’ of fusing contemporary R&B with jazzy melodic rock-riffs (look out for stellar wailing guitar solos) and catchy hooks, it brings music well into the 21 century.
She’s got a distinctive ‘ girl band voice’ a la Girls Aloud, but that’s where comparisons end. Try a few listens and you’ll be suitably impressed – hold on it’s a hot ride and very cool. Possible? Yes.
You probably won’t hear an album quite like it all year. The lady’s been piling on the credibility for almost five years-her time has finally come - I hope.
Standout tracks: Are You Ready, Fine With Me, Forgive Me, Remember Me.
Review by Rhyl, Prestatyn and Abergele Journal
1/12/2004:
Britain has come up with a credible alternative to Avril Lavigne in the form of Natascha Sohl. Her Strange Fascination album is a brash and confident pop/rock crossover collection that is stuffed to the gills with potential hit singles and we've got a feeling that we're going to hear a lot of this young lady in the coming months
Review from Spaghetti Junction Issue 2
Nov – Dec 2004:
Natascha Sohl - "Strange Fascination"
New singer-songwriter Natascha Sohl oozes talent. Described as ‘Lenny Kravits meets Alanis Morissette’ the young Londoner released her debut album ‘Strange Fascination’ in November.
Boasting 13 self-penned tracks, ‘Strange Fascination’ contains all the elements needed for a successful melodic rock album. Upbeat, catchy and passionate, with the odd ballad thrown in for good measure, it manages to escape the ‘rock chick’ album stereotype.
From the upbeat ‘Make Your Own Way’ to the slower ‘Forgive Me’, Natascha Sohl is both creative and inventive whilst avoiding that ‘samey’ feel.
With 5 years of solo performance under her belt and 3 years of fronting her own rock band, ‘Little Entity’, Natascha Sohl is on the road to success
Review by Marcus Dunk
In Weekend Music section, Daily Express
29/10/2004:
Natascha Sohl - "Strange Fascination" (Granite)
A very decent debut from a British rocker whom some are already comparing with Avril Lavigne and Alanis Morissette. I’m not quite sure that comparing her with either of those two banshees is much of a compliment, but on this collection you can hear what they’re getting at. There are some very good pop songs here, full of sass, and, er, sohl.
Review by David Randall
www.getreadytorock.com
25/8/2004:
Natascha Sohl - "Strange Fascination" - (Granite Music 2004)
Natascha Sohl joins the growing legion of female singer-songwriters, it's a fairly crowded genre but soon she will be snapping at the heels of Alanis, Avril...and all the rest.
'Strange Fascination' is a superb debut with a confidence that would shame many an old-stager. It seems that Tash has been steadily building a following through live gigs and commanding the respect of both fans and fellow musos alike.
It would be invidious to single out particular tracks, because the whole album is consistently good. It's upbeat, catchy, angsty, and has the mandatory jangling guitars. If you like female singer-songwriter rock you will not fail to enjoy this.
Oh alright, then, opening track and first single 'Are You Ready?' sets the standard but 'Make Your Own Way', and 'Give It All Away' could both be hit singles. The latter in particular is a well-nigh perfect slice of pop rock that will have 'em air fisting in the auditorium. Great production, too, from Ben Jones.
'Remember Me' is characterised by its urgency, smouldering guitars and stark affirmation: 'Loving you, was it all a big mistake?". 'Walking Thru Space' with its dub backbeat, vocal effects and widescreen orchestration, is splendid.
Natascha Sohl has been described as "Lenny Kravitz meets Alanis Morrisette' but that's a bit throwaway because she's got her own groove and arguably more talent. Catch young Sohl now, because the stadiums beckon. You can smugly say to your mates in a few years time, as they download yet another i-Tune, 'I told you so'.
Review by Charles Donovan
Arts Editor of Woman & Home magazine, and a contributor to What’s On In London, The London Telegraph, The London Evening Standard, allmusic.com, and rollingstone.com
22/01/2004:
Natascha Sohl - "Strange Fascination"
Do TV talent shows leave you cold? Do you ever wonder what happened to the people who just wanted to make music, and whose first concerns weren’t your applause and your worship? The ones who didn’t want just to thrust their bodies at you in lieu of a real gift, but who desired only to move you, shake you, lift you, and maybe chew you to pieces. To make you laugh, to share a feeling, and to tell you that, even in your most shamed and screwed-up moments, someone had been there before, and come back alive. There is a songwriter who, through her music, does all this every time you listen to her.
Natascha Sohl’s debut album, Strange Fascination, is a remarkably palatable and cohesive work. It’s prompted innumerable comparisons to Avril Lavigne and Nelly Furtado. And, on the surface, there are similarities; they are all purveyors of a spirited, spunky rock. But where those two artists build up their work with layer upon layer of artifice, Sohl takes the opposite approach, stripping away all that is false, chipping away at artifice and affectation to reveal truth.
The late, legendary producer Nik Venet, who discovered the Beach Boys and mentored many great pop composers, always stressed the importance of truth in songwriting. This is a concept that Sohl has adeptly grasped. Her soulful, despondent ballads, such as Forgive Me, reveal a writer who realises that you express more by what you leave out, than by what you put in. Genuinely affecting ballads require a notoriously difficult balancing act – if the writer teeters too much to one side, their work is grossly saccharine. But if they wobble to the other, their songs can be limp and unmoving. Using language and music with restraint and a grownup sense of economy, Sohl performs one sleight of hand after another, lifting herself clean above the competition.
Cuts like lead-off single Are You Ready and Give It All Away peel back the outer layers of romantic affliction, to reveal beautiful and ugly realities, like spite, ardour, lust, jealousy and regret. Sohl makes no attempt to patronise her audience by drawing a veil over the darker side of love – and this upfront, b-s-free attitude makes Strange Fascination an absorbing journey of feelings. Sohl’s deceptively sweet voice crawls into the listener’s ears, and catches them unawares. Just as you think you’re going to be lulled and soothed, she outmanoeuvres you with a sudden display of petulance, anguish and bewildered rage. But the wounds she inflicts are then deftly healed through the underlying balm of her artistry. Her album is nothing short of aural seduction.
Amongst the other highlights are Make Your Own Way, with a verse that bristles with all the strutting elegance of the Red Hot Chilli Pepper’s finest work (a comparison that does far more justice to Sohl’s skills than the endless Lavigne references), and the disarmingly candid My Needs. Musically, Sohl has a good grip on the art of the one-hit hook – the twist in a melody line that leaves an audience demanding to hear it again. And again. Strange Fascination’s title track represents the very pinnacle of her gifts. Smart, open, foxy, straight-up and real.
Where other artists present us with mere clay, Natascha Sohl delivers the finished sculpture. Her songs have a longevity beyond mere ‘hit’ songs, because truth has a longer shelf life than fashion.
Review by www.yo-zone.co.uk
24/11/2003:
"STRANGE FASCINATION" - Natascha Sohl, Granite
Say hello to Natascha Sohl, a deeply talented singer and songwriter, destined for greatness. Natascha’s album Strange Fascination is the catchiest, coolest thing we’ve heard all year, and we Yo’Zoners can’t stop playing it.
Natascha has a winning way with a melody, and you could well find yourself humming any one of her 13 rock-pop gems before you even realise you’re doing it. Our favourite is the fierce and lovely Give It All Away. This album is delicious.
