This is a very 2017 record in terms of the world that it writes about. And explicitly in comparison with a lot of albums of this year which tend to chart the inner geography of Brexit, the refugee crisis, Trump, Putin and the generally awful state the planet finds itself in, if they cared to chart it at all. But this, Holiday Destination, the second album from South Shield's Nadine Shah is explicit in terms of the concerns it focuses on.
As a result I didn't listen to it as much of many of the other things on the list. I didn't always want to stare these things directly in the face. Any more than it's easy to stare at the pictures of Aleppo that adorn its sleeve and actually make the leap of imagination to find yourself there, which is what the album is daring you to do. But every time I did listen to Holiday I found it strident, raw engaged and angry in terms of its personal and public politics and musical nous. And very impressive.
Metallic and harsh in terms of its arrangements but warm determined too. Nadine Shah is making her way from the obvious guiding influence of Patti, Siouxsie and P.J. towards her own space and this was a brave committed statement about the harsh world we have little choice but to be living in but also about the responsibility that is ours to engage with it rather than burrow our way into our own shells.
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