naomi hates humans: pipe dreams & lullabies

According to the press release for Pipe Dreams & Lullabies, Naomi Scott is “often affiliated with antifolk scene”. Being totally uninitiated in the ways of antifolk, I turned to Wikipedia, and I quote: “The music tends to sound raw or experimental; it also generally mocks the seriousness and pretension of the established mainstream music scene in addition to mocking itself.” A promising start in my opinion. But let’s backtrack a little.

Like all artists, Naomi Scott’s story is just as important as her music. Early years relegated at the back of the school choir did little for her self-esteem. Enter the middle-fingers-up influence of punk, stints in various bands, a job in an independent record shop, two years of solo gigging with just her voice and a trusty but battered acoustic guitar, and we have the outspoken Naomi Hates Humans. Minimalistic yet full, her sound as a whole is carefully constructed but bursting with unrestrained emotion. Citing Björk, Patti Smith and Gang Of Four as influences, it’s obvious she’s an eclectic artist. Scott has the fuck-you drawl of Johnny Rotten, the fire of Patti Smith (whose ‘Free Money’ she covered on last year’s Five Rounds split EP with Tim Holehouse), and a talent for scrutinising uncomfortable truths, both shared and personal. The whole album is politically charged, brimming with astute observations and passionate opinions.

The deliberately uneven and repetitive time signatures of the chords backing her gravel-laced yell give Pipe Dreams & Lullabies an unsettling sound, creating a discordant canvas for her lyrics. The opening track, ‘Consensus Counts For Nothing’, is a marching, righteous protest call that sets the tone for the album as a whole. The strength of Scott’s words is in their straightforward, unapologetic approach. They are frequently tinged with a wry, almost Morrisey-esque misanthropy, but edged with a relentless demand for confrontation and a belief in change. ‘Heads Down’ challenges the social isolation of city life and its dampening of human connections, ‘Drunk Dickhead Strikes Again’ is a self-nullifying paean to destructive, alcohol-induced calamities, and ‘Better Things’ has possibly my favourite rebel-yell lyric of all: “well I’m too young to hate my job / so let’s get fired.”

Singing with a resolutely London accent, it would be easy to liken her with one of the many established London-voiced female singers (Lily Allen, Kate Nash), but Naomi Hates Humans is more growl then glitter, with nil production and a good ole portion of that aforementioned rawness. Scott’s voice is a whiskey-soaked battle cry, and, as debuts go, Pipe Dreams & Lullabies is full of promise.

[Better Weird Than Dead; April 21, 2008]

Written by: Charlotte Richardson Andrews

Tags: naomi hates humans, pipe dreams and lullabies

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 9:33 pm and is filed under albums & EPs, reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.