Released 6th April, 157 Records

Just like a certain Mr Justin Vernon, Nell Bryden comes with a cracking back story that elevates her above the legions of accessible, pretty singer-songstresses plying their trade across the radiowaves.

 Plucked from relative obscurity by the Armed Forces Entertainment to play a tour for coalition troops in Kuwait and Iraq, she played an impressive fifteen dates in ten days. Deserted by her normal band just before leaving, she quickly assembled a new band of merry
players, and with very little bonding or rehearsal time, they went and
performed in such far flung places as Bagdad and Mahmudiyah, all the while  belting out a mix of classic covers and Nell’s
original material; all of it in her bluesy country tones. All the gigs were
then recorded with the best bits being segued together to form her Live In Iraq album.

 Interestingly- and the thing that shows she
is a real musician- is the fact that her self penned tunes are actually the
best on here.  ‘Tonight’ is a sweet little old school ditty about a girl wanting to ‘curl [her] hair and wear that dress so tight’ before ‘going out with baby’.  Normally a part of me would cringe at this sepia sentimentality, but given the songs home and family sick audience (who clap along), it is surprisingly powerful and meaningful.  ‘Meridian’
is the same, with its touching chorus of ‘I been loving you so long/your face has changed/when I look at you/ I love the same’ taking on serious significance for those that may have changed   inexorably since last seeing those at home.

Coming from a different angle is her ‘Second Time Around’, which has had a bit of coverage and Radio 2 play.  It shows that Bryden has more than ballads and ditties to her name, but is also-if we didn’t know already, going to Iraq n’ all- a ballsy girl, one who refuses to bow to a ‘second time around’ with an inappropriate man.  Its an interesting thing to sing in front of an audience of purely testosterone
heavy men, but judging from the shouts, whistles and hollers she gets they love her for it.

Elsewhere, the covers all pretty much hit home.  ‘House Of The Rising Sun’ and ‘That’s All Right Mama’ are down the line, and come out as the soldiers would have wanted (so pretty boring then).  An
emotive version of ‘Tuesdays Gone’ is a lot better, however, especially with its bluesy guitar and lyric of ‘Tuesdays gone/with the wind’ taking on a far more explicit meaning when you consider its being watched by a crowd who have lost too many Tuesdays in a strange and violent land.

One would say that Nell has just as much as chance of gate crashing the Radio 2 A Playlist as the next female guitar strumming countryish gal, i.e not much at all.

 However, with a now famous back story and a few better-than-average tracks, there can be a lot of hope for the release of her first studio album this Summer. Good on her, I say.

Posted In Album Reviews, Apr 08 2009. Words - Karen