Who? British (by way of Scotland) 20-year-old chirper Kate Nash wrote most of her chart-topping debut record, Made of Bricks, on a guitar and laptop during the three-week recovery for a broken foot suffered after tumbling down some stairs. She recovered nicely, though; Internet buzz for Bricks caused its release two months early in the U.K., and last month it topped the British charts. Her stateside bow comes this week with Geffen’s release of the Foundations EP.
What’s the Deal? There are plenty of ways to try to describe Nash’s gimmick-free pure pop wonders — a Natasha Bedingfield record produced by Mike Skinner, a caffeinated Regina Spektor or a more stable Lily Allen with a better voice — but none of them come close to conveying her wide-eyed ebullience. That doesn’t mean Nash can’t turn on the sass, though. A spare piano and finger snaps accompany her on the dirge-y “Dickhead” (“Thirty-five people couldn’t count on two hands the amount of times you’ve made me stop, stop and think, ‘What you being a dickhead for?'”) and the driving “Foundations” uses a crumbling house as a metaphor for a doomed relationship. The bittersweet blend has landed Nash onto the bills of major U.K. festivals such as Isle of Wight and Reading, where her set was one of the most sought after by fans.
Fun Fact: Nash’s new fans have clearly taken her lyrics to heart, sending her hundreds of lemons through the mail as an answer to a line — “You said I must eat so many lemons ’cause I am so bitter” — from the hit song “Foundations.”
Now Hear This:
Kate Nash – “Foundations” WINDOWS MEDIA
On the Web:
Kate Nash at MySpace
katenash.co.uk
Talk: Is Kate Nash’s ‘foundation’ ready to break in America?
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