Nina Nastasia & Jim White - You Follow Me
Bittersweet and melancholy, but never sombre and leavened by the darkest humour, it's a minimalist marvel.
Posted Sunday, 3 June 2007 in ,
Rating: 7
Coming hot on the heels of the strikingly death-obsessed
'On Leaving', 'You Follow Me' sees
Nastasia hook up with
Jim White, drummer of Aussie instrumentalists
Dirty Three, rather than the American gothic folk singer of the same name. A long-time collaborator,
White deserves his equal billing here, his uniquely imaginative percussion providing the perfect backdrop for
Nastasia's smokily-sung tales of ordinary madness. Sparely produced once more by
Steve Albini who strips everything to the bare bones of voice, guitar and drums,
Nastasia's haunted first-person narratives are beautifully offset with simply picked guitar lines and
White's instinctual battery. Bittersweet and melancholy, but never sombre and leavened by the darkest humour, it's a minimalist marvel.
Neil Gardner