Natalie Prass

I don't feel much

I'm afraid I don't feel anything at all

The opening lines of Natlie Prass' eponymous debut album set you up for a journey through a break up that tugs on the heart strings yet also feels strangely euphoric.

Released on Matthew E White's Spacebomb Records, this is a stunning album with White and his house band ensuring Prass' album has a similar beautiful feel to it like White's incredible Big Inner.

Our love is like a long goodbye

We keep waiting for the train to cry

Because my baby don't understand me

He don't understand me anymore

Prass has an effortlessly beautiful voice that just sounds exquisite on opener My Baby Don't Understand Me and throughout the album; rich in soul and with a hint of jazzy blues at times.

Bird of Prey is sublime, the Spacebomb Records band (numbering up to a dozen at times) drop gorgeous horns and soulful strings and allow Prass to let her beautiful voice find all kinds of lovely melodies and harmonies.

Prass has the ability to almost whisper and then let her voice rise, playful with her skills. It is a joy to listen to.

Why Don't You Believe In Me delivers the kind of retro soul that Matthew E White has made his trademark. Prass is on fire, the lyrics and the way she sings them just make your hair stand on end.

I wake up alone

The nights keep getting harder

Wanna call you but I don't

I want to be smarter

Afraid to make the next move

And it's bringing me down

As titles go Violently is intriguing and worrying for a break up album. Prass' voice is fragile, broken in this song, the lyrics at the end of each verse are extremely clever.

Now break my arms cause they want to hold you

Prass lays her broken heart bare on Never Over You before earlier song Your Fool (where we learn the twist that is was Prass who ended the relationship after being lied to and cheated on) is revisited on Reprise.

The album closes in glorious poetic Disney-esque style with the majestic It Is You - the most gorgeous song I have hear in a while. This is truly stunning, imaginative, soulful and cinematic.

Natalie Prass has delivered an album full of heartbreak and soul.