Lady Nade – Willing
Independent – 18 June 2021
Initially, I didn’t think of Lady Nade as an Americana artist until Willing just slapped me upside the head. The slide guitar didn’t hit me. Neither did the acoustic. Then everything just clicked. It was a moment that changed everything. Because Willing is a pretty special album, one from a woman in Bristol who sings beautifully and has a band that understands exactly what she needs and is able to give it to her despite recording in isolation from locations across the UK.
The opening notes of “Willing” work so well that style is secondary. Emotion is everything as Nade relates, “I will stand by you willingly/ I will comfort you willingly.” Isn’t that what everyone is looking for? That the opening guitar notes are almost jazz is secondary. By the time the slide comes in you simply have to go along for the ride. The song is so sophisticated, the country flourishes don’t sink in right away.
Even the guitar on “Complicated” doesn’t hit you strongly because you’re listening to that voice. Pure as a bell, Nade sings of a relationship that isn’t quite as straightforward as one might wish. Leaving out the details, the broad strokes are more than enough, “Oh your hands, your hands/ I miss your hands/ But it’s so oh, oh, complicated.” You don’t need to fill in the blanks because love and lust are always better some things are unspoken.
The down-home country of “You’re My Number One” begins with acoustic and electric guitars. She talks and sings her way through the opening lines expressing the frustrations of life, there’s never enough time, and God knows the bills never seem to end. But what gets her through is the person that makes her smile and gives her what she can’t get anywhere else.
The minor-key melody and backing vocals of “Wildfire” only add to the notion of how Lady Nade has grown as a singer and vocalist. She takes chances not just to take them, but to play the lyrics out more fully. Especially on “One-Sided,” a tour de force where a variety of voices are used to show how a particular relationship will never lead to anything, illustrating how the only thing gained from waiting around is frustration.
Making the album special is the way that Nade refuses to take the obvious steps. “Rock Bottom” holds out no false hope. There isn’t any to be had. “Face down, picking up the pieces of broken glass/ You’ve lied to me, crossed the line/ I thought I knew you in your decline.” How far can one person go before they realize the only thing below them is the floor?
In the face of overwhelming odds sometimes you just have to take a chance. Which is exactly what Lady Nade has done with Willing. Writing and recording in isolation she took the chance that her band would accept the challenge of delivering the goods on their own and that the finished product would be worth the inconveniences. Needless to say, she was right.
Willing is out now. Order via Bandcamp: https://ladynade.bandcamp.com/album/willing