And I still have chills up and down my spine over this one. NinaNastasia makes music that compromises nothing. It is aggressive in itspursuit of your soul, it is passionate in its creation, it isunforgiving and somewhat brutal. But it is rather lovely. This is musicthat combines the hoedowns of the early part of the 20th century withelements of a modern rock orchestra, a little Dylan influence, and allpiped through the voice of a true chanteuse. Nastasia's voice is clear,distinct, gorgeous. With a basis of acoustic guitar and her voice,there's nowhere to go but up. And it certainly does, with littleholding it back. Steel guitar haunts the tracks in places, gentle andcompetent drumming providing a solid backbone. The strings soar, withcello and viola vying for attention, but never outdoing one another.There's even accordion, which adds atmosphere as well as anauthenticity that cannot be denied. Things move along at a nice pace,with occasional jarring moments that could easily give you a heartattack - the moment on the first track, 'Run, All You...', where thefull band comes in almost killed me. And ultimately, everything seemsto be destined to remain in your dreams and nightmares for years tocome. Luckily, Nastasia's lyrics are those of a poet, so these songsalso have a lot to say without sounding highfalutin or cheap. Theycreate the backdrop of a barren wasteland, a dirt town where none areforgiven for their transgressions, and suffering is king. "Someone toldme that I should visit you in the graveyard/pull out all the weeds; butI'm still lonely and I'm not ready/You scared me when you hid behindthe trees" says it all, and that's just one example. Most songs lastaround two minutes, and normally I'd feel cheated. Sometimes here, Istill do, wanting the songs to continue. But who knows what mighthappen then? It might get old, lose it's lustre. It might changedirection, morph into something else. But it's best just as NinaNastasia left it. Trust her: she knows what she's doing.
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