Fast Food (album)

''Fast Food'' is the second album by the English singer-songwriter Nadine Shah, released on 6 April 2015 by Apollo Records and produced by Ben Hillier. The album was preceded by the singles "Stealing Cars" and "Fool" and marked Shah's first entry onto the UK album charts at no. 48.

Style and artwork

The album has been considered as a stylistic continuation of her debut album '' Love Your Dum and Mad'' (2013) which was seen as reminiscient of Nick Cave and PJ Harvey. As said by Jayson Greene in a review for ''Pitchfork'', "while you can’t exactly hear ''Rid of Me'' or ''The Boatman's Call'' resounding in ''Fast Food'', she shares a certain sea-swept melancholy and a preoccupation with power." Often described as containing elements of goth music, ''Fast Food'' drew additional comparisons to the theatrics of Siouxsie Sioux and the guitar work of the band Interpol, the latter of whom Shah has pointed to as a personal favorite. Lyrically, as opposed to the preceding album which largely addressed themes of mental health, ''Fast Food'' focused more on the positive and negative aspects of relationships.

Shah spoke of the artwork in an interview with Sammy Maine for ''Rookie'': "I just wanted to portray a sort of femme fatale type character, and I wanted all the artwork on this album to be very coherent. So I wanted three very vivid colors to be present – red, blue, and green... I was looking at loads of different artwork and the thing that stood out to me the most were these images from '70s Italian horror films."

Promotion and release

Two singles preceded the release of ''Fast Food''. The lead single "Stealing Cars" debuted on 18 November 2014, marking her first music release in over a year after her debut album ''Love Your Dum and Mad''. The second single, "Fool", was released the following year on 18 February. A music video for "Fool" directed by Anna Victoria Best followed in March.

With ''Fast Food'', Shah made her debut on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at no. 48. Additionally, the single "Fool" peaked at no. 51 on the UK Physical Singles Chart.

Critical reception

Another aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave the album 7.4 out of 10 based on 13 critical reviews. Comparing to its predecessor ''Love Your Dum and Mad'', ''The Line of Best Fit'' reviewer Laurence Day said that while "isn’t as labyrinthine as her debut... it is just as powerful." Over at AllMusic, David Jeffries said "even if the first cut is the deepest,... ''Fast Food'' is still wicked sharp."

In a four star review, Tim Lee of ''DIY Magazine'' found the album to be "pretty successful in capturing the ups and downs of complicated relationships... in a way which is neither hackneyed or predictable". In '' Uncut'', Fiona Sturges said "Most captivating of all is Shah's voice that, veering between a gentle croon and semi-operatic howl, sends tiny shards through the heart." Glyn Brown of ''Mojo Magazine'' gave a more mixed assessment, saying that the album could have done with "a little less aggrieved gothic pomp" on tracks such as "Fast Food" and "Matador".

In a review for '' Drowned in Sound'', Paul Brown said "The songs on this record have been delivered with the kind of aplomb that only someone with an unshakeable confidence in their work can muster, which suggests that Nadine Shah’s artistic future is mouthwatering." Steven Johnson of ''musicOMH'' was simiilary optimistic, saying the album "Forthcoming years will almost certainly offer her more opportunities to further develop her style and maybe pursue different approaches, but in the meantime ''Fast Food'' is a well-defined and powerful musical statement".

Accolades

Track listing

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the CD liner notes.

* Nadine Shah – vocals, guitar (tracks 1–3, 7), piano (7, 9), bass (10)
* Ben Hillier – drums (except 5), guitar (except 3), bass (3, 8, 9), percussion (1, 10), VCS3 synthesizer (6), piano (10)
* Neill MacColl – guitar (except 9), guitaret (9), percussion (1)
* Nick Webb – guitar, cornet (5)
* Peter Jobson – bass (2, 5–7), synth (1, 10), piano (3, 4), percussion (1)
* Ben Nichols – guitar (1, 6, 7), piano (6), lap steel guitar (8)
* Garo Nahoulakian – guitar (3, 4)
* Horse Radish Tree – guitar solo (5)
* DM Stith – vocals (7)

Technical and design
* Ben Hillier – production
* Drew Smith – engineering
* Jonathan Sagis – assistant engineering
* Matthew Wiggins, Kristian Donaldson – additional engineering
* Bunt Stafford-Clark – mastering
* Simon Webb – photography
* DM Stith – collage, layout

Charts

Album

Singles

References

External links

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{{Nadine Shah, state=expanded

2015 albums
Gothic rock albums by English artists
Nadine Shah albums
Albums produced by Ben Hillier