ONE TO WATCH (Clash): Nadine Shah

Here is a piece I wrote on Nadine Shah for the Ones To Watch section of Clash's April 2013 issue. If Shah's album is up to the standard of her first two EPs, keep an eye out for her name come Mercury Prize announcements in September.

Clash are such big fans of Nadine Shah that this is the second time we have bestowed the ‘One to Watch’ title on her. We first sought out Shah for an online feature back in December, having been spellbound by ‘Aching Bones’, a sinister and haunting debut single that drew significant early praise for the South Tyneside native.

When we meet for the second time, a Stoke Newington pub rescuing us from a wet March evening, things are looking good for Shah. A few days earlier she had signed a two-album deal with R&S offshoot Apollo, having been won over by the fervent overtures of label boss Renaat Vandepapeliere. “We went for a meal and he said to me ‘Listen, if I don’t sign you, it’s gonna be fuckin’ World War Three,’” Shah says. “Then we got a bit drunk and he said ‘Scrap that. It’s gonna be NUCLEAR. FUCKING NUCLEAR!’”

This month sees Shah’s first release for Apollo, the EP Dreary Town. The title track, telling the tale of a relationship in destructive decline, steps away from the driving menace of ‘Aching Bones’, with collaborator Ben Hillier’s instrumental work flickering gently across Shah’s sombre piano line. The Blur producer’s presence on ‘Dreary Town’ might be subtle, but for Shah the pair’s collaboration is ever crucial. “Loads of people who work with Ben use him like a glorified engineer and I just think they’re idiots,” she says. “I gave him free reign to do whatever he wanted.”

A former jazz singer who grew up listening to ghazals sung by her Pakistani father, Shah possesses a truly striking voice:  part Julie London, part Shirley Bassey, but with a melodic fluidity – and heavy North Eastern inflection – that make it hard to think of another vocalist quite like her. It is no wonder that Vandepapeliere was so eager to secure her signature.

Debut album Love Your Dum and Mad is due in July, three months before the Mercury Prize shortlist is announced –  a fact that has not escaped Shah’s attention. “We’ve been trying to find out who’s on the panel,” she says. “‘Who can we bribe? Ring ‘em! Send ‘em something!’” Judging by what we’ve seen so far, such shenanigans may not be necessary.

Where: London/Whitburn

 What: Mournful icy soul

Unique Fact: Shah’s ex-fiancé Sam Duckworth (Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.) was forced to deny rumours that he was engaged to an “Asian princess”, after Shah had added the claim to his Wikipedia page.

Get Three Tracks: ‘Aching Bones’, ‘Dreary Town’, ‘Never Tell Me Mam’