Nadia - Strange Song: The Songs of Leonard Cohen

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 30 / 6 / 2011

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Nadia Kazmi isn’t the first female vocalist to record an album of Leonard Cohen songs but it’s fair to say that no one has ever reinterpreted Cohen’s songs quite like the Canadian-born musician who now lives in Brooklyn. Nadia’s debut album was a collection of her original songs that earned her some good reviews but, as we missed that album, which was appropriately titled ‘Arrival’, the opening song here, ‘Why Don’t You Try?’ is the first time we have heard that amazing voice that Nadia is the owner of. Nadia has the kind of voice that the word powerful was made for. It’s not easy to quickly come up with other female vocalists who Nadia can be compared to, part P J Harvey, part Björk maybe, but that’s partly due to the fact that Nadia sounds, on this album at least, like a powerful presence who will do things her way or not at all. Nadia hasn’t taken the easy way out either when it comes to her selection of songs from Cohen’s vast catalogue. She’s taken the unusual step of choosing two songs from the underrated Phil Spector co-written and produced album ‘Death of a Ladies Man’ rather than the expected ‘First We Take Manhattan’, ‘Sisters Of Mercy’ or ‘Hallelujah’ but Nadia does close her album with ‘Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye’ which is possibly the most immediate and accessible of all her covers. It’s also one of the best versions of the song recorded so far. With Nadia reining back her vocals at least a little compared with the preceding songs and the noisy, dirty guitar sound making a more subdued showing it’s probably the best song on this album to listen to first for those not yet familiar with Nadia’s powerhouse vocals. Much like Cohen, Nadia is very much an acquired taste. There will be no in-between ground here. You will either love or loathe not only Nadia’s vocals but also what she has done with Cohen’s songs. It’s refreshing to hear familiar songs given a new treatment though, and, as Nadia has approached Cohen’s work from a completely different angle than any other artist and especially from the way in which the composer originally recorded them, it works really well. As the guitars threaten to take over the proceedings entirely at times, it shows that this kind of interpretation would not be as successful if the singer didn’t have such a powerful voice as Nadia has. Songs like ‘Ain’t No Cure For Love’ work extremely well given the Nadia treatment but those two songs from the Spector album are the biggest surprises and both songs, ‘True Love Leaves No Traces’ and ‘Paper Thin Hotel’, standout as highlights on this album. It’s an interesting selection of songs that Nadia has chosen; she has taken the songs and actually given them a new lease of life while introducing some of us to an exciting new female singer. It will be interesting now to catch up on her debut album to see how Nadia’s original songs stand up against this collection of covers. A brave album then but one that works extremely well and leaves you wanting more…what more could we ask for?

Track Listing:-

1 Suzanne
2 Master Song
3 Winter Lady
4 The Stranger Song
5 Sisters Of Mercy
6 So Long, Marianne
7 Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye
8 Stories Of The Street
9 Teachers
10 One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong

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