This was the first show of Nell’s 2019 UK tour and was played to a sell-out audience.
I grew up during the golden era of the singer-song-writer, listening to and watching the likes of Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Tom Paxton, Melanie, Buffy Sainte-Marie, James Taylor, Harry Chapin, Emmylou Harris, Bruce Springsteen and Don McLean. If Nell Bryden had been born in that era she would have become a global superstar and would not be playing in small intimate venues such as Pizza Express in Maidstone because her best songs sit comfortably alongside those of the listed artists.
Nell has a beautiful voice which is technically strong, probably due to the influence of her mother who was a classical soprano. Her lyrics show that she has the wonderful ability to put her thoughts into beautiful words; her melodies are strong and memorable.
The Show started with a stripped back version of the Smokey Robinson classic, ‘Tracks of My Tears’ which features on Nell’s latest album ‘Living Room Sessions’. Nell then told us that she had stepped away from music for a while to write her first novel ‘Little Wing’ and how this had inspired her to write a soundtrack to the book. She then played ‘Eyebrows Wild As The City’ from her EP ‘Soundtrack to Little Wing Part 1’.
The remainder of the show featured songs from throughout Nell’s musical career. The highlights for me were ‘Wolves’ from the ‘Wayfarer’ album, ‘City Rose’ from ‘Bloom’, ‘Building and Treetops’ (the song that kick started my interest in Nell’s music) from ‘Shake The Tree’ and her new single ‘Smoke in My Heart’ another song from her latest EP.
The show ended with my all-time favourite Nell song ‘Sirens’, song written following the tragedy of 9/11 proclaiming that ‘Love Will Survive’ the tragedy. It is a very emotional song which is optimistic in its outlook. Nell returned to play an encore and finished with Elvis Presley’s ‘That’s All Right’.
The audience had a large contingent of over-sixties and whilst appreciating the music were not very loud in their applause. The performance was worthy of a far more raucous reception.
Nell Bryden is a highly talented performer who shows a warmth toward her audience, she has a bright future ahead of her.
Johns London Music Reviews 