Amazing vocal talent
2009 has been quite a year for New York singer Nell Bryden and it is us here in the UK and Ireland that are the lucky ones to benefit from it. Not only has Miss Bryden had some very successful gigs all over here and even in Iraq, she has been getting plenty of airplay on BBC Radio 2, including being put on the top A list with ‘Second Time Around’. But the biggest and best news is the fact that she has been signed to Cooking Vinyl records and it is on the said label that sees ‘What Does It Take’ released on.
‘What Does It Take’ is basically a new and improved version of self released album ‘Second Time Around’, which we thought was near perfection to start with and now has been improved with new versions of the songs that have stayed and with the weaker songs replaced with tracks of the stature of ‘Meridian (I Love The Same)’ it makes one hell of a classy album.
It has been mentioned here on numerous previous occasions the amazing vocal talents Nell Bryden posses and if anything, this album cements that belief. From the opening moments of the upbeat first track, the album title track, ‘What Does It Take’ to the final track, the fun ‘Late Night Call’ it is full to the brim of class Americana songs. In ‘Not Like Loving You’, one of the new tracks, and ‘Second Time Around’ we get to hear the range of powerful vocals, which every time I hear, just leaves me with a big smile.
There is not one weak song out of the eleven and in ‘Meridian (I Love The Same)’ there is a real hidden gem of a song that touches the heart strings. In all honesty, the whole album is full of hidden gems. I feel sorry for Cooking Vinyl in trying to decide which ones could be released as singles, as they are all of that quality. Each songs lyrics speak volumes too, each with their own story, some happy, some sad, like ‘Green Dress’ but none as touching as ‘Helen’s Requiem’.
Nell Bryden sure has what it takes and with a headline tour in November, we all get the chance to see this amazing talent live and make sure she does not return back to her homeland and we get to claim her as one of our own.