Nadine Shah
Outline
Nadine Shah is a London-based singer and songwriter whose music is often compared to PJ Harvey's. There are similarities with respect to attitude, overall tone, and the depth of her work, but Shah is pretty much her own thing stylistically. She sings in the same alto range as Siouxsie Sioux, and her music also has roughly the same dark undertones for the most part (slightly lightened up on her 2020 album, Kitchen Sink). It usually has a sturdy rock beat with hooks that are not overtly catchy but sink in deep. Her delivery is very restrained, with some bottled up anger. She does not normally do cheery, uplifting, hopeful songs. She broods a lot. But then she also has a lot on her mind: her songs often deal with heavy issues that are all very personal with her, ranging from societal expectations around women to the refugee crises that engulfed the world in the late '10s, and so on.
PJ Harvey, Anna Calvi, Ezra Furman
Shah has been working with producer Ben Hillier in all her albums.
Next in line to receive Patti Smith's torch from PJ Harvey.