The cult of New York-based indie-folk singer Nina Nastasia began when she released her debut album, Dogs, in 2000. John Peel picked up on the understated and delicate beauty of her voice, and invited her to play six times on his show.
Treading a fine line between sadness and despair, often with lyrics about feeling lonely and bruised by love, her performances are invariably hushed and intimate. Despite her ability to get the hairs on complete strangers’ necks sticking up as she lays bare her most private thoughts, Nastasia describes herself as a bad communicator.
‘When I speak I get very lazy,’ she explains from her Manhattan apartment. ‘I know what I’m trying to say, but it comes out in a silly, unclear way. I’m like a deer in the headlights.’
Although she appears scatter-brained and tongue-tied in interview, her lyrics are precise and pared down. With a few, simple lines she can create a soft-focus snapshot of a sunny day trip to a lake, or take the listener to a cold and dark place where lovers don’t believe in love, and arguments leave behind numbness and silences. ‘Singing lets me express myself,’ she says. ‘Maybe it’s because I’ve had a lot of time to think about it before. I sing about things I wouldn’t normally talk about, even to people I know well.’
Next month she plans to return to the studio with long-time friend Steve Albini to record a sixth album. Albini, a famed studio engineer and member of Shellac, has previously produced artists including Nirvana, Neurosis and Joanna Newsom, and has worked on all Nastasia’s albums so far. ‘We know what we’re doing when we get in the studio. He’s good at telling me his opinion about what will work well, and I always like hanging out with him.’
These tour dates will revisit material from Nastasia’s previous five albums. ‘Performing used to terrify me, but I’ve learned to enjoy it now. I’ll be shy before the first few dates but as the tour goes on, the nerves generally go away.’
Mon, Aug 4, Brudenell Social Club, 33 Queen’s Road, Leeds, 8pm, £10. Tel: 0113 275 2411. www.myspace.com/ninanastasia
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