Rhyme Report

Published on June 12th, 2020 | by Guest Contributor

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Natalie Slade Shares Stunning Debut Album ‘Control’

Sydney-based artist Natalie Slade has shared her stunning debut album Control, out via Eglo Records. Combining soul, jazz, folk and r&b, Natalie’s timeless vocals dazzle across 10 stunning tracks, perfectly complemented by rich, live instrumentation and vibrant production by Simon Mavin (Hiatus Kaiyote).

On the album’s creation, Natalie explains; ‘I’m so incredibly grateful that I got to make this record with Simon Mavin. He’s a Grammy-nominated musician and someone that I admire so much. I was lucky that he was in a phase of wanting to experiment more with production and this is the first record that he’s produced… I think he nailed it! We never intended to make an album. I think we just got along so well that we kept going.’

Recording sessions for Control began after a chance encounter between Natalie and the Hiatus Kaiyote keys player Simon Mavin, resulting in a writing session that quickly escalated into a full-blown album project. The chemistry was clear and the creativity flowed. Spontaneous recording sessions ensued, with visitors to the studio jumping in to play on tracks, the levels of musicianship on the album never fall short of stunning and Natalie’s poetic and enchanting songwriting shines throughout. Familiar broken rhythms and jazz heavy motifs, notorious with Hiatus Kaiyote’s writing and arrangement style are present, reminding us throughout that we are in the hands of true masters. The result is a kaleidoscopic reimagining of sounds and styles from an exciting new vocal talent. The album kicks off with an energetic flash on ‘Cloud Cover’, an arpeggiating bassline bubbles over skipping drums and aquatic synths. The title track ‘Control’ puts its foot on the gas with a driving synth bass, broken beats and soaring vocals. ‘Colour’ sees Natalie pouring out her heart to the universe over a fluttering mellotron whilst the beautiful ‘There Is Light In Everything’ gives her a chance to show off her vocal prowess. When discussing the tracks, Natalie says ‘Two of my favourite tracks are ‘Cloud Cover’ and ‘There is Light in Everything’. They kind of reflect my philosophy on life. In the latter, the lyric suggests that there is beauty in all things, it’s like a light just waiting to be found – ‘Waiting in fruit like seeds, where secrets hide unseen, where logic goes to sleep.’

On the team behind the album, Natalie explains, ‘Melbourne was the perfect place to make the record. It’s the kind of place where you could meet some of the best musicians in the country just hanging out in a tiny bar on the north side. Everyone I met there was insanely talented and friendly and thankfully we got to invite a number of these musicians to jump on the record, mostly drummers. We featured Myka Wallace, Nick Martyn, Leigh Fisher, Rory McDougall and Alon Ilsar, James Bowers (keys) then Paul Bender (Hiatus Kaiyote bassist) featured on about 5 tracks as well. It’s like Melbourne royalty.’

The album is out via London based label Eglo Records, the imprint responsible for pivotal releases from Floating Points, Fatima, Funkineven and Shafiq Husayn.



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