Nina Nastasia + Jim White - You Follow Me
(Fat Cat Records )

We are genuinely spoiled to be hearing from Nina Nastasia again so soon after last year’s triumphant ‘On Leaving’. The unabashed poeticism of that record caught a number of her fans off guard and the tide of early reviews dismissed it as a return to less adventurous territory. Myself included. It took several dedicated sittings before I could appreciate the unadorned subtlety and wonderful restraint behind the deceptively simple set of songs. Retrospectively, it now seems an easy contender for the best record of last year. Similarly, you can bet that the same people who chastised Nastasia for playing safe on the previous record will criticise this one as indulgent. I know there are deadlines to meet but with certain records you have to give it some time. ‘You Follow Me’ is much the same.

It should be said that this record is a collaboration with drummer extraordinaire Jim White, best known for his work with avant garde masters the Dirty Three. White also played on Nastasia’s two previous records but on these songs there is a crucial difference. The use of drums are so central on this record that it’s actually more accurate to say that Nastasia is accompanying White, instead of the reverse. Recorded in just two days at Electrical Audio studios in Chicago, ‘You Follow Me’ is quite a challenging listen at first. White seems busy and overbearing. Only when the shock resides do you realise how incredible his playing is. To his credit, not at any stage during the modest half an hour duration do you miss Nastasia’s full complement of backing musicians. Obviously, White can’t afford to be as gentle as he has been on previous Nastasia records but that becomes part of the thrill.

The opening track ‘I’ve Been Out Walking’ is a master-class in tempo and controlled aggression. White clips and snatches at his kit as Nastasia’s voice gasps and confides. For two glorious minutes White teeters on the brink of the drum assault we all know him to be capable of. When it comes he sounds like he is suddenly everywhere at once. Like a cartoon bear growing larger and larger, dwarfing the panicked Nastasia. The result is stunning. The sort of song you will play again and again. The rest of the album is not as immediate but with these two at full stretch, you really wouldn’t want it to be. ‘I Write Down Lists’ menaces and stomps. ‘Odd Says the Doe’ draws you into a typical Nastasia reverie before White beckons in a cloud of percussive cacophony. Nastasia is on fine venomous form during the aptly titled ‘The Day I Would Bury You’. After the placid ‘On Leaving’ it is very welcome indeed to hear her hiss “I wanted to tell you how much I blame you/How hard this has been” as White clatters the song to an uneasy resolution.

The most difficult song of the collaboration is the relatively quiet ‘Our Discussion’, which is the only time the formula shows a weakness. Had this song been on previous records, White wouldn’t have found it necessary to use such busy drumming. As it stands, it’s an interesting failure and I wouldn’t mind hearing it revisited again at some point in the future. Thankfully, the rest of the album is wonderful. On the glowing ‘There is No Train’, White regains the hazy, drunken pace he captured so wonderfully on ‘Run to Ruin’. Though this album isn’t the masterpiece that record was, it comes very close on the shattering ‘Last Night’. The song reaches a crescendo with a full voiced Nastasia hacking at her guitar. As White wheels in arsenal towards the end, there’s nothing at all you could add to make the song anymore perfect. As a collaboration between two of the world of underground music’s biggest talents, I am struggling to think of a finer excursion. Not an easy record at first but ultimately the most rewarding you will hear for a long while.
- Tommy Dski