Song(s) of the Day # 4,008 Nadia Reid

 

Nadia Reid's latest album Enter Now Brightness has a rather uninspiring cover. A picture of the back of Nadia Reid's head. It's a perfectly nice head and the back of it is fine. But it hardly inspires the casual listener to pick the record from the racks and take it home. New records are an investment these days and the cover isn't really that persuasive in encouraging neutral parties to attach themselves to Nadia's narrative rather than going to M&S and getting a pair of jeans instead.

Still 'You Can't Judge a Book by its Cover' as the man says, so I'm giving Enter Now Brightness a listen now. It's not bad at all.  Reid is from New Zealand and is a singer songwriter of an immediately recognisable stripe. Her songs are unembroidered and hail most obviously back to the likes of Joni Mitchell and Jill Saint John. Vashti Bunyan.

She talks and sings about relationships. Friendship and love. How they're like plants and need to be tended. Cared for. As you would the plants in your flat or garden or they can wilt, wither and die.Something to be avoided They're songs crafted and embroidered with poetry, melodic touches and poetry. This is good unadorned work which will appeal to those who have invested previously. Perhaps it lacks the extraordinary to lift it into the essential but it's quality product.