CD of The Week

Kate Nash - 9 Sad Symphonies (Kill Rock Stars)

Kate Nash's last album, Yesterday Was Forever, really feels like it came out forever ago, but it was the spring of 2018. Since then, Nash has juggled various creative pursuits, sadly losing her role on GLOW which was unfairly canceled by Netflix in 2020, but acting in other films and TV shows, and working on the musical Only Gold in New York. But all along she was chipping away at her next studio album, which is out now as 9 Sad Symphonies.

Her work on Only Gold was certainly a touchstone for these songs, most of which are heavy on string arrangements and feel like they could easily be part of a theatrical performance. Many of these songs were rolled out over the past 2-3 years, including “Misery,” a song we spun a bit in 2021. Current single “Millions of Heartbeats” juxtaposes lighthearted piano playing reminiscent of her debut Made of Bricks with a tale of feeling lost creatively and depressed. Nash sings of a time where “Everything you feel can just come undone / And the media supports all the far right scum / I just want to believe, but the feeling's not inside me.” Thankfully she moved beyond this feeling and kept going but worked through these emotions on many of these tunes. The haunted pop tune “Abandoned” finds her in a dark place, while the swirling “Horsie” is another snapshot of hopelessness and loneliness.

The swooning strings of “My Bile” and the playful “These Feelings,” which finds her lost and asking, “What is the purpose of me?,” also could easily be slotted into her next musical, though a very dark one. “Space Odyssey 2001” is a much-needed lighter moment, recounting her first date with her long-time boyfriend, where she took him to a pro wrestling show and he chose the Kubrick classic to watch, which she jokingly points out is just too long for a date movie.

“Ray” (as in, “of sunshine”) is an emotional tale of digging out from depression and suicidal thoughts, as she finds hope and strength, along with a clever turn of phrase in the chorus, “I know I can be a ray of sunshine / Any time I wanna see a rainbow, I just have to cry.” However, Nash doesn’t leave us on a bummer note, as the acoustic closer “Vampyre” isn’t an ode to her beloved Buffy but a love letter to her partner and a leap into a better future, as she declares, “Sometimes you gotta jump and run / And let the demons from your past explode into the sun” (which actually, definitely does sound very Buffy-esque).

Confusingly, 9 Sad Symphonies is ten tracks long… is one song not a sad symphony? If so, which one? (My guess: “Vampyre”) It’s probably Nash’s most cohesive record since her debut, and while the symphonic strings and the sadness might be a bit much at times, it’s another twist in her artistic, eclectic career.

Kate returns to Philadelphia at World Cafe Live on October 10th.
Review by Joey O.