{"id":75807,"date":"2022-05-27T12:54:40","date_gmt":"2022-05-27T10:54:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=75807"},"modified":"2022-05-27T12:54:40","modified_gmt":"2022-05-27T10:54:40","slug":"critically-acclaimed-singer-songwriter-marie-naffah-releases-stunning-new-ep-trains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2022\/05\/critically-acclaimed-singer-songwriter-marie-naffah-releases-stunning-new-ep-trains\/","title":{"rendered":"Critically Acclaimed Singer Songwriter Marie Naffah Releases Stunning New EP \u2018Trains\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You will hear a lot of people telling you who Marie Naffah sounds like and some of the comparisons hold credence. Names like Amy Winehouse, Florence Welch, Fleetwood Mac and Joni Mitchell are often thrown into the mix and of course the intention is purely complementary; to be compared to or even emulate any of these stunning artists will I’m sure thrill Marie to bits. However, the more I listen to this artist and I’ve been fortunate enough to see two very different live performances, the more I realise that Marie Naffah really doesn’t sound like these artists. <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Marie Naffah – photo credit: Steve Holley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is not because of anything detrimental, far from it; the reason she doesn’t sound like these artists is that she very much has a voice and style of her own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of these artists have deep soul in their music and I’m sure that this is what draws the comparisons but the reason NME made this artist one of their \u2018Big 10\u2019 artists to watch in a post pandemic world and the reason she was named\u00a0 MTV\u2019s \u2018Unsigned Artist of the Year\u2019 is very much because of her uniqueness, very much because of that weird thing that happens when an articulate, well dressed young artist opens her mouth and what comes out is a voice that captures the reason that music moves us, it captures the heart and soul we crave in the music that becomes the soundtrack to our lives, it captures something that is both hugely contemporary and yet movingly nostalgic at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Marie Naffah releases an EP of four very different songs which whilst all bringing something new, all bring the artist\u2019s insightful lyrics and life commentary and are filled with her usual deep voice that manages to be mournful at times and joyous at others; a recipe for an EP that will never grow old and will in fact ingrain itself upon your soul with each listen. Written from journal notes made on railway journeys all over the UK whilst she was completing the NME sponsored \u201850\/50: For The Love of Live Tour\u2019 which took Marie to 50 eclectic venues in 50 travel filled days, Marie was keen to draw inspiration from the landscapes that flashed past her window and the life affirming glimpses into the everyday lives of so many people and this EP is at least part of the result. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marie says: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe reflection time you get on long journeys is really important for me. If you get a window seat, it feels like you\u2019re the star of a movie watching things go past. Windows have that kind of romance around travel and dreaming\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Parts of the EP were made in a ramshackle walk in wardrobe studio in Madrid, but at it\u2019s heart it is very much an EP about being at home, about coming home; whether you define home as a place or a state of mind suggests that you could be in a number of places and still feel \u2018at home\u2019 and that is something that is not lost in the soul searching nature of the EP. Wherever the writing or recording happened there is a real continuity of class that pervades all four tracks and brings them together as a stunning piece of work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe the most stunning thing about this EP is how it evolves from her last EP \u2018Golden State\u2019 which was inspired by a sun drenched road trip up the West Coast of America and fused her classic song writing with Americana. This EP is sonically a move away from that and yet there\u2019s a real feeling of evolution rather than revolution that is brought beautifully together by the final track on the EP and focus single \u2018Good Luck (Mrs Tambourine Ma\u2019am) which is a contemporary spin on the Bob Dylan classic and confronts the ever changing music industry and how it can be a fickle lover. The line \u201cI was one to watch and now the critics say that they\u2019re asking for my head on a paper plate\u201d is so evocative of the struggle that new artists find themselves in as they try to navigate the minefield of following their creative dream and yet managing to garner the likes, follows and streams that are necessary to perpetuate it. Marie Naffah is fortunate at the moment in that this project is backed by Frictionless Music, a disruptor company that is keen not to be seen as the status quo label as it finds an innovative and supportive way to make music. The fact that they are working with this stunningly unique talent might be all the disruption they need as I get the feeling that Marie Naffah is one of those artists that will be around for some time to come. Listen to her EP, let it grow into your world and add it to your playlist; that way we can support talented artists like her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The four songs on the release are first single \u2018I Want More\u2019 which has already landed the coveted \u2018Spotlight Artist\u2019 slot on The Independent, \u2018Run Away With Me\u2019 which feels like it could almost be a musical idea for a romantic movie, the breathtakingly raw \u2018Angie\u2019 and, of course, \u2018Good Luck\u2019 a tongue in cheek and yet hugely powerful song about the dichotomy of what that phrase can mean dependent on tone. The stories and people that Marie Naffah discovered when she spent all that time on trains has named and inspired the music on this EP which is mostly recorded with Ian Barter who has worked with Amy Winehouse, Paloma Faith and Izzy Bizu in the past. Listen to the EP and I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll agree that in the future the name of Marie Naffah will be added to that list in future reviews by writers like me. I am confident that in years to come I will use the phrase \u2018I told you so\u2019 when I\u2019m referring to this artist but I\u2019ll steer away from saying \u2018Good Luck\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, Marie Naffah releases ‘Trains’, an EP of four very different songs which whilst all bringing something new, all bring the artist\u2019s insightful lyrics and life commentary.<\/p>\n

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