Every so often I stumble upon social media posts from folks decrying the paltry state of modern music, usually due to the difficulties they have discovering new grooves. They somehow believe the streaming services should serve them recent releases that are more than the same ol’ sounds in mimeographed form—but not too different. We’ve become a passive-aggressive people, in a sense, expecting big tech to tailor recommendations to our individual tastes and then, when it doesn’t, lambasting the results.
Music discovery requires more than a backend algorithm, however. For me, it means digging deep into Apple Music’s new release section most Fridays, listening to a bit of this and a bit of that, and reading reviews in blogs and music publications. It means, too, surfing the web and clicking through Instagram ads, plus—unique to me and other bloggers—sampling the many review requests I receive.
My latest find is Nina Nesbitt’s folk-flavored fourth album, Mountain Music. If her name rings a bell, odds are it’s due to her UK-based success in the early 2010s. A quick-hit profile includes these pertinent facts: Taylor Swift’s Fearless album inspired her, as a teen in a rural Scottish village, to upload a cover of one of its songs to YouTube; its success led to more uploads, both covers and originals. Later, a chance meeting with Ed Sheeran resulted in being asked to join him on a European tour. In 2011, The Independent (a London-based newspaper) called her “a tiny, fluffy-haired creature in a porkpie hat” while commenting on their duet on Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” at a Shepherd’s Bush Empire gig. She left Scotland somewhere in there, hoping to mine gold and platinum in London. She achieved a modicum of success, including the 2013 hit “Stay Out,” a successful 2014 debut album (Peroxide), plus a tasty cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop” that appeared in a TV commercial, and…
Well, the music business is tough. One hit doesn’t beget two, three or more. As a result, she worked as a songwriter-for-hire, shaping sounds for others while still pursuing her dreams. Her last outing, Älskar in 2022, was a spotty Scandinavian-styled pop outing, for example. At some point, she returned to her Scotland and re-embraced her folky roots.
The album opens with “Pages,” which is somewhat akin to penning confessions in a diary. It’s mid-tempo and wordy in the best sense: “I’m two years from 30/Life scares me more each day/I’ve got a man that swears he loves me/But I’m afraid he won’t stay/So I drive out to the ocean/just to wash my blues away.”
“I’m Coming Home,” the second track, is an utter delight, capturing the joy one feels upon returning to one’s childhood home. The streets are jammed with memories. “Mansion” turns an old manor into a metaphor for self-esteem, while “On the Run” gives life to a fantasy shared by many: “I’ve been standing still for way too long/I wanna live like I’m forever young/Tryna hold it down ain’t no fun/I’ll pack a bag and leave before the sun.” The perceptive “Painkiller,” for its part, hones in on why so many shield themselves with alcohol and other substances.
Side 2 opens with the fiery “Anger,” in which she unleashes an inner rage many will identify with: “Oh I’ve got this anger inside me/And I don’t know what to do/Yeah, it creeps up and I’m reminded/That I just can’t shake it loose.” “Alchemise” offers solid advice for dealing with life’s lows (of which, for me, today is one). Understanding that each day, each moment, is but one step in a long journey doesn’t lessen the pain, of course, but does lend perspective.
“Big Things, Small Town” is one of my favorite tracks. Much as John Mellencamp did a generation ago, it celebrates villages, hamlets and boroughs. When young, we often think of big cities as the center of the universe and find ourselves pulled to them. As we grow older, however, we realize that the small towns that once sheltered us are rife with more than just memories. They’re filled with the things that make a life a life.
“Treachery” finds Nesbitt channeling her inner Bon Iver with a song-long metaphor about a personal betrayal that still hurts. “Hard Times,” meanwhile, reflects on how having someone to share life’s difficulties with makes the bad moments seem just a little less worse. “What Will Make Me Great” reflects on the tough times she’s dealt with and how—in theory, at least—they may shape future success.
The album closes with the wonderful “Parachute,” a love song that speaks the language of record collectors and wannabe writers like me: “I’m a deep cut, a B side/an extended version/A language they don’t speak/A shape that’s emerging/But you/Not with you/I am the comic/The best-selling book/Flying through free fall/And you are the parachute.”
(The LP can be purchased direct from Nesbitt’s webstore.)
The track list:
The Old Grey Cat 