Remember when we reviewed Ellie Goulding’s ‘Lights’ on the day it was released? Well now, I’m going to review Kate Nash’s new album ‘My Best Friend Is You’ the day after it came out.

Don’t say we don’t spoil you.

If you’re thinking ‘but it’s not Monday!’ don’t worry. I know this. But music reviews aren’t exclusive to Monday, so I thought I’d just slap in a lovely album release for you all.

I actually saw Ms. Nash play live back in 2008 and she was really quite good. Her first album, ‘Made of Bricks’, was also awarded a respectable 4 stars HERE (click!) at the Daily Wiggle, so let’s see if this matches up in greatness, shall we?

Track #1: Paris – Ahh what a way to kick off a fresh start. Nash’s first album was definitely raw. It was great, don’t get me wrong, but it was raw. With little more than an acoustic guitar, a piano and a little bit of synth, her first album was quite basic. But this song already shows that Nash is on a bigger budget this time round, with trumpets, strings and of course, her trademark London accent. It’s all very home grown. But still fabulous.

Track #2: Kiss That Grrrl – For some reason, the first thing I thought of when listening to this was ‘the Beach Boys’. Maybe it’s the drums and the beachy feel to the guitar to the intro. Anyway, Kate’s signature lyrics are back with this track. They did lack a little in the first song, but this one reminds me a bit of ‘Mariella’ from the debut in some parts.

Track #3: Don’t You Want To Share The Guilt? – Not sure if I hear a ukulele here, but if I do, I’m in love with it from the intro. Ukuleles make every song worth listening to. I’d even listen to a bit of the Cheeky Girls if they stuck a little bit of uke in there. I like the quirkiness Kate uses to start this song with; the first two words of this tune are ‘Barbecue’ and ‘food’. Something I love with all my heart. To top it off, the rant Nash has at the end of this one is epic. Simply epic.

Track #4: I Just Love You More – When I first hit the ‘play’ button on track 4, it sounded nothing like a Kate Nash track. This one sounds rocky and edgy – 2 words I would never use to describe this songstress. But it seems that Nash’s new sound is apparent, especially in this one.  I love the little squeals she does in this one. Don’t listen to it if you’re not weird in the slightest, because it’ll probably freak you out.

Track #5: Do-Wah-Doo – I’ll have to admit I wasn’t a huge fan of this first single when I first heard it, but it’s definitely a grower. This one has a heavy guitar and the chorus actually makes me super happy. It wouldn’t be out of place if it was used as the soundtrack to an episode of Skins and makes me want to dance quite a lot. You’ll be singing ‘bum-bi-dum-bi-dum-bi-dum-bum’ repeatedly for ages after listening.

Track #6: Take Me To A Higher Plane – This kicks off with some super jolly violins that make the track seem randomly Irish. Don’t even know why. I like it anyway! The lyrics are actually pretty dark, but the happiness of the music that accompanies it turns the whole table around, giving it a great air of juxtaposition. Possibly my favourite track so far…

Track #7: I’ve Got A Secret – I really don’t understand the opening of this song but I guess it’s the quirkiness Kate is going for. Again, this track is much more edgy than anything on her previous album with its rockstar electric guitar, which isn’t a bad thing, but I’m not sure if I like this new Kate as much as I like the old Kate yet.

Track #8: Mansion Song – Finally, a song that ends in ’song’. Last time round, we had ‘Skeleton Song’ and ‘Shit Song’, so I was hoping we’d get a ’song’ this time too. This starts again with a rant from Kate Nash. But I love it, for some reason. The rant continues for a good 1 minute and 35 seconds and it says something about modern culture, telling a story on the way. The song afterwards is jumpy, fun and it makes you chant the lyrics immediately. Love it.

Track #9: Early Christmas Present – Christmas? In April? Let’s see what randomness Kate has come up with here… Not the strongest song by a mile, but it’s still cute and fun like the rest of the album. I don’t think this is a song that I’ll really remember out of all of them, but it’s not bad anyway.

Track #10: Later On – Drums! I love a Nash song that has drums in it. Simply because it’s so rare. I think this is where the album seems to get a little repetitive, but as I listen to the songs more, they’ll probably be easier to differentiate between the tracks. This song is nice and all but… not my favourite. I wonder if there’ll be any small, slow songs like ‘The Nicest Thing’ from the old album any time soon… A little variation would be nice.

Track #11: Pickpocket – I actually heard this in 2008 live when I saw Kate at Nottingham. (England). I don’t remember much about it but I can’t remember thinking it was pretty cute. I love the introduction of tinkling keys and this track definitely sounds much more like vintage Nash. Her vocals actually sound pretty dreamy with a raspy quality that I’ve not noticed before in this song and I think I like it. Lovely song.

Track #12: You Were So Far Away – What’s this I hear? A slow song? Well, ask and you shall receive. I actually thought the start of the track (before Kate started singing) was a Mumford & Sons track. I don’t know why, I guess the guitar just sounded a little like their song ‘The Cave’. This isn’t as sweet and meaningful as ‘The Nicest Thing’ – it’s actually got a pretty dark story behind it. This song actually leaves Kate’s vocal nowhere to hide, as the editing team have made sure that her voice is the main feature here, overshadowing the background guitar. It’s interesting and unlike anything I’ve heard before.

Track #13: I Hate Seagulls – This song is a long list about things Kate (probably personally) hates. I enjoy this, because most of these things I hate too. Feels like you can really relate to her, which is definitely a good thing and something you can’t really get in other songs by other artists. You know these songs are based on something that has happened to Nash personally, which is really great. It’s not all negative though, as Kate begins to warble sweetly about her special ‘friend’ of hers. It’s quite pretty and I’m glad she’s decided to include 2 slow songs this time through.

On the whole, I’m not convinced yet that I prefer this new age Kate Nash to the vintage, extremely British Kate I remember, but with a few more listens, I think that I could really warm to this album. I recommend it.

Top 3 Tracks:

Take Me To A Higher Plane

Pickpocket

I Hate Seagulls