PERFORMING SONGWRITER
Nathalie Nahai - Nathalie Nahai
"For those of us who’ve pined for early-’90s bands like the Sundays or Edie Brickell and New Bohemians, Nathalie Nahai sounds like an answered prayer. The young British singer-songwriter offers pretty pop melodies with a light soprano that sails gracefully over chiming acoustic guitars and moody bass and drums. Electric guitar shimmers in the background, adding ambience without detracting from Nahai’s vocals.

Highlights include the existential opener “It’s Not Far” (“It’s only the dark, don’t be afraid / ’cause we all slip away”), the upbeat “Here Tonight” and the anthemic “Walking Wounded” (“I won’t say that I’m lost without you, ’cause that’s not what I really mean / But when you rip me away like a bandage, you take so much from me”). With exploratory lyrics, soaring melodies and clear vocals, Nahai stands poised to guide a whole new generation through the pain and joy of the game of life." - Mare Wakefield


ROOTSTIME (TRANSLATED)
Nathalie Nahai - Fortune Teller
"Every now and then a new young singer arises with a voice of a nightingale. Like London-born Nathalie Nahai, who uses her illustrations of a tree as a metaphor. She graduated at the Art and Design department at the Central Saint Martins College in London and provides the illustrations for her own albums. But even more than her art, her talent really shows through her music and her self-written poetic songs. Her debut album was recorded in America with Don McCollister as producer and was released on her own label in 2006. The album was positively received in the press and on the radio. Now, on her second album 'Fortune Teller', her songwriting is brought to a new level.

Her songs about loss, sadness and homesickness spontaneously flow into each other. That might be why the only cover, Charles Aznavour's 'La Boheme', is the weakest track on the album, because her own personal experiences touches the listener on a more emotional level. In the angel-like track 'Overboard' she throws away her wings to surrender herself to the waves. Her lyrics are cryptic and circle around desolate moods. A few of them are genuinely miniature-masterpieces. The nostalgic 'Where Children Play' is one of them. And 'Only There' even more, where the mellotron lets the pain shine through. Multi-instrumentalist Nathalie accompanies herself on guitar, violin, banjo and Wurlitzer.

She started with her musical training when she was very young, and taught herself how to play the guitar and later on piano. She was a natural talent at singing, because her folky voice touched the heart of every listener who was present at her first live performance at the café One in Birmingham.

In the past three years Nathalie has been on tour in America and England, sometimes solo, sometimes with her band. On this album there are four accompanists, and most of all Warren Ullom makes the song 'Sly Girl' even more jazzy with this brilliant piano playing. Producer Ryan Pitchford completes the album with a pedalsteel. Nathalie Nahai ends the album with the track 'Softly Now', the song closes the curtains of ten delicate songs, one more fragile than the other.

To keep and cherish."


ANALOGUE
Nathalie Nahai - Fortune Teller
"I cut my teeth on acoustic music, though I rarely listen to it these days. So much seems repetitious, vapid, self congratulatory. The simple pure beauty of a Buckley track, the spicy outrage of Dylan, the melodic subtleties of Nick Drake, well to be blunt, it’s all been done right? Every now and then however, you hear a voice so clear and elemental, so sweet and fine and effortlessly reflexive, you’re forced to stop and listen. Off you go and listen to the folksy alt-country Nathalie Nahai." - Gareth Stack


ACOUSTIC MAGAZINE
Nathalie Nahai - Fortune Teller
"Nathalie's voice, with its captivating clarity and pure quality, is compelling and full of sweet lamentation that laces the 11 tracks within. There is also a haunting quality which embellishes an album of carefully constructed simplicity, and subtle instrument and melody choices which add catchy motifs and signature qualities to the acoustic guitar, mellotron, banjo, wurlitzer and piano backdrops. In this well-produced context, an electric guitar solo and pedal steel feature boldly. Forgiving the rare Katie Melua inflexions, Nathalie's independent siren-like voice will be sure to draw you in with her sentiments of hopeless romanticism, murky portraits and her French rendition of La Boheme." - Russell Welton


MAVERICK
Nathalie Nahai - Fortune Teller
"Wistful album penned with passion and folk-styled flair. There are sweet and sensational vocal stylings throughout this album though all of a rather sober tone. The raw acoustics of this collection are fabulous and really take you to a dreamy place with delicate melodies and beautiful structures. The opening track Polly Ride Home gives you a real instant introduction to Nahai’s folk-acoustic sound with country undertones and only really on track nine, do we see a hint of blues. This is very Mary Black-esque in that its sweet folk sound really hits you somewhere between the heart and our piggy-bank of memories. There are some fantastic songs present on this album, nine of the ten tracks were penned by Nahai, and accompanied by wistful and emotional vocals the whole experience communicates with us on a deep level." - LB


BLUES MATTERS
Nathalie Nahai - Fortune Teller
“Acoustic/folk/alternative,” is how Nathalie’s MySpace profile defines her music, but the Blues is in there, as well. This young London-based singer/songwriter/guitarist and multi-instrumentalist received some excellent reviews for her debut album in 2006 – she was compared to KT Tunstall by one critic – and the country tinges in her work attracted some good press from the journalists across the pond. She has a high, pure, haunting voice, which the sparse production of Ryan Pitchford enhances, and the accompaniments are often minimalist, though Nathalie’s use of mellotron adds a fuller string sound occasionally; other accompanists are used sparingly. Two numbers with bigger arrangements, ‘Queen & Country’ and ‘Sly Girl’, have a more obvious Blues base – not quite twelve bars, in the way that some of Nina Simone’s Bluesier numbers are almost but not quite twelve-bars. In fact, Nina is not a bad point of reference for these two, as Nathalie’s voice takes on a little grittier quality than is evident on the folkier material. So, although the definition cited earlier is correct, take a listen “without blinkers” and you might just find the Blues in there after all." - Norman Darwen


GONDOLA (TRANSLATED)
Nathalie Nahai - Fortune Teller
"A singer, composer and musician, Nathalie Nahai’s album 'Fortune Teller' comprises 10 songs, all written by the singer herself. In addition, she also designed the graphics of the CD and cover.

It is very difficult to box Nahai’s work into any stylistic category since there are folk and blues elements in her music as well as motives of French chanson. The latest appears mainly in La Boheme which Nahai sings in French. The repertoire contains superb songs Polly Ride On, Winter and Only There. As a bonus the style and lyrics are so powerful that these songs will speak to future generations for years to come without losing their meaning. There will always be an ear for good music.

What do we get from Nahai? She provides choruses that we can hum along to almost immediately, stylish graphic design and a sense of liberty that comes from many American artists. The songs provide a relaxing atmosphere independently where and when it is played and listened to. Nahai is sensitive and her music meets the high expectations of our day due to her lively energy which comes from her inner being, present in these compositions.

The singer belongs among those few artists who need only be heard once before they hold a special place in your heart. The band, small in number but experienced in playing a wide variety of instruments, supports the voice of the singer with virtuosity.
Band: Nathalie Nahai / vocals, violin, banjo, guitar, Andy Bauer / percussion and organ, JT Hall / double-bass, Warren Ullom / piano and guitar."

Translated by Peter Bozi and David Clifton.


UNCUT
Nathalie Nahai - Fortune Teller
"Second from classically trained, London based singer-songwriter. Fortune Teller's cover takes its imagery from Tarot cards - Nahai is a trained reader - and there's a certain new age aesthetic to her poetic songs, which seem to carry the woes of the world on three flimsy chords. The twanging steel guitar/banjo of opener 'Polly Ride On' might suggest another Emmylou Harris / Lucinda wannabe,but although she travelled to Georgia to record the album, her sensibility is distinctively European on a gripping version of Aznavour's 'La Boheme' in perfect French, while the elegant classicism of songs like 'Where Children Play' paint her as a quintessentially English rose. Fragrant stuff." - Nigel Williamson


ROCK N REEL
Nathalie Nahai - Fortune Teller
"Recorded in the state of Georgia, USA, the second album from London singer-songwriter Nathalie Nahai is an exquisite slice of modern alternative folk. Inspired by the Nahai's fascination with tarot, it's a beautiful example of bohemian acoustica.

A classically trained violinist and self-taught guitarist, Nahai has been performing in the US and UK for the last three years. Having recorded her eponymous debut while studying at St Martins college she now turned her attention to music full-time for the eagerly anticipated follow-up, Fortune Teller, released on her own label.

Drawing inspiration from Nahai's French, Iranian, Scottish and Gibraltarian heritage, Fortune Teller is an extraordinary cross-cultural folk-pop adventure, Featuring a remarkable interpretation of Armenian singer songwriter Charles Aznavour's 'La Boheme', Fortune Teller sees Nahai fuse European folk with American country, bluegrass and blues, with incredible success.

Blessed with a haunting voice of unquestionable beauty, Nathalie Nahai has the makings of a British alternative folk heavyweight. Playing banjo, guitar, violin, mellotron and Wurlitzer, she's a multi-instrumentalist of considerable ability. With her unique finger picking style and proven talent for songwriting, she makes most of her contemporaries sound little more than ordinary."