Sarah Nixey - Sing, Memory

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 8 / 2 / 2007

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Sarah Nixey has always had a fond place in my heart because a) She has a great voice. b) She is very beautiful, but not at all big headed with it. c) She is very talented. d) She has got a great sense of humour. When I first interviewed her in 1998, when her band Black Box Recorder first started putting out material, long before a live date, she mentioned in our phone conversation that she would like to do a solo album at some stage. Well now we are in 2007, and it is with us and it doesn't disappoint. 'Sing, Memory' was recorded with the band, Infantjoy, which features the label boss, of Service AV, James Banbury, whom was in Black Box Recorder's live band for a while, and was also in Luke Haines from that latter group's second band, the Auteurs. Neither Haines or Black Box Recorder's other songwriter John Moore appear on this. While that band had a very English feel, 'Sing, Memory' has more of an European sound, but is very romantic and very dancey in places too. It is all sung in Sarah's seductive style. She has a voice that you can trust. Even if she chose to be a little devil, you would still trust her completely. The album has two parts. The first side, which is entitled 'Sing' opens with a prelude of the same name, upon which Sarah, talking, tells us that there are two sides to every story, and that while some songs are at the start, some are at the end, and while some are true, some tell lies. She says this against an electronic backdrop and the sound of rain falling on a stormy night outside one's window. The album opens properly with the third and latest single from it, 'When I'm Here With You', which has been only released as a download via iTunes. Sarah sounds like a femme fatale on it. The intro which she hums has the feel of an early Dario Argento film just before the first murder takes place. It develops into an electronica number, across which Sarah's vocal elegantly melts. It is a true and real love song with enough style to drag it into the 21st century. 'Beautiful Oblivion' is more dancey and has Bjork-style beats, and is what mature pop should sound like. 'Strangelove (Sing Version)' was the second single, and appeared on heavy 7 inch as well as a download. It is a club dance anthem with an intro that sounds very much like Black Box Recorder. 'Hotel Room' is edgy pop with a jagged edge. Here Sarah gives Kylie a run for her money. 'Nothing on Earth' meanwhile is a dance pop number with a drooling seductive vocal. 'Nightshift' is a cover of the song by the Belgian avant garde band the Names. This has a great story behind it and is full of big electronica based beats. The second side, 'Memory', starts with another spoken prelude, again with the same name. This is followed by the first download only single, 'The Collector', which has a European feel. It is quite fast and a complete departure from her past work. This is a classy female-fronted pop number. A song about a butterfly collector, it has a great video too. 'Breathe In, Fade Out' slots somewhere between Kate Bush and Bjork with its dance grooves. If you can imagine the Beatles' 'A Day in the Life' sung without the drugs and in the 21st century by a woman living in the real world, then you will, be there with the next song, 'Endless Circles'. It is a perfect pop number and could be a massive single. 'The Man I Knew' is a moody little beast with an eerie vocal, while 'Masquerade' has a lush production and is sung by Sarah like a female Scott Walker. 'Love and Exile' was the virtual B side of 'The Collector' and is another beats based electronica track. The album ends with Sarah's reading of the Human League's 'The Black Hit of Space'. The first great album of 2007 has just arrived.

Track Listing:-

1 Sing (prelude)
2 When I'm Here With You
3 Beautiful Oblivion
4 Strangelove (sing version)
5 Hotel Room
6 Nothing On Earth
7 Nightshift
8 Memory (prelude)
9 The Collector
10 Breathe In, Fade Out
11 Endless Circles
12 The Man I Knew
13 Masquerade
14 Love And Exile
15 The Black Hit of Space

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