Jay's Music Column

Electronica without sounding like Eurotrash is becoming harder to pull off. Most current tunes fused with catchy beats and beautiful blonde women wouldn’t be out of place in a dodgy back-alley bar in Alicante. Or a night at Butlins. Natubella, a feisty lady with Ukrainian roots and Latin blood manages to side-step this pitfall of most modern dance sounding alike and themeless, and appears to have created for herself a new genre catchily being mooted as electROCKnica.

A very artistic and driven woman of multiple talents, dancing, painting and obviously singing as her Facebook fan page boasts, Natubella has made a very likable and catchy album with her Swedish record company for this assured offering. Staccato beats lightly break-up the opening of first track and single TDG, and each song delivers more edgy beat mastery from the assured collection of producers. More importantly, they do not outstay their welcome. The album is a little shorter than I’d expect for eleven well produced tracks, but this is what Natubella does well, making snappy tunes and managing to pack in many influences without it appearing over laden.

The rock aspect melds into the beats with its own comfortable style. Thankfully it’s not as hard on the ears as Pendulum, rather it’s as smooth as anything pumping through this 80’s revival with raw emotion. Title track Little Devil shows us what a little master of rock electronica we have in the making, and track 8, Beauty & the Beast reminds me of Santogold for unapologetic lyricism. Her lightly accented voiced adds extra flavour to this already enjoyable collection.

Snippets of Gwen Stefani attitude are evident in Harmless Guy, and we have a Madonna-esque ballad for track four Keep It Simple. Lather on a coating of a very rich Goldfrapp vibe throughout, and you have an album of assurance. Even for the closing tune, we do not have a dull ballad or lessening of the insistence of the previous tracks. Natubella doesn’t want to play safe, rather she wants to give everybody what she has within her musical psyche, an unrelenting piece of herself.

An accomplished and highly enjoyable album whether you’re in a club or even doing some housework. Listenable, tight and extremely well produced, Natubella has the aptitude and understanding of the current music scene to make her mark. I just hope she can find a way through all the artists vying for the same acknowledgement.

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/natubella
Website: http://www.natubella.com .

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