CD of The Week

Week of 4/02/18

Kate Nash - Yesterday Was Forever (Girl Gang)

The past year or so has been a pretty great one for Kate Nash. Most notably, the British musician earned a high-profile role as Rhonda-aka-Britannica on the Netflix hit series GLOW, all the while running a successful Kickstarter campaign for her fourth album Yesterday Was Forever. In 2017, we got a taste of the new material on the four-song Agenda EP. Now the full album is here, pulling together her eclectic sounds and songs into perhaps her best collection of tunes.

Yesterday Was Forever kicks off with "Life in Pink," a '90s-alt-poppy track about struggling with mental health. On the lead single "Drink About You," Nash can't fully get over her ex but does give us one of the catchiest, most energized choruses on the record.

"Take Away" matches chugging guitars to a sweet song about staying in with your partner and ordering food ("takeaway" is the British word for "takeout"). Sunnydale superfan Nash sings about how "I wanna watch Buffy in my room on the TV / And you know I'll be smiling when we spoon."

Nash throws all her influences and interests into Yesterday Was Forever. You get modern pop production and trends on "Karaoke Kiss" and "Hate You," blown-out guitar rock on "California Poppies" and stripped down confessionals with "Always Shining" and "Today." However, none of it feels out of character for an artist who has embraced all these sounds throughout her past albums.

The record wraps with "To the Music I Belong," where Nash declares that after everything life has thrown at her, the power of music and her relationship to it has remained strong.

At 14 songs and over 50 minutes, Yesterday Was Forever is a bit scattershot and longer than necessary (especially with two songs from the Agenda EP re-appearing, the hooky "Call Me" and quirky girl-group tribute to her dog, "My Little Alien"). But Nash's wit and personality carry the varied Yesterday Was Forever, which proves that having gone through the major label wringer and come out the other side, she is empowered to do what she wants and embrace all sides of her musical self.

Kate Nash returns to Philly for a can't-miss show at The TLA on April 26th.

Review by Joey O.