Natalie Prass: "Why Don’t You Believe in Me"
A Nashville singer-songwriter who sounds nothing like a Nashville singer-songwriter, Natalie Prass has spent much of 2014 singing back-up in Jenny Lewis‘ band, but she’ll be her own boss in 2015. Due in January, her debut was recorded at Spacebomb Studio in Richmond, Virginia, with Trey Pollard writing string arrangements and Prass’ high school friend Matthew E. White contributing horn charts. On “Why Don’t You Believe in Me”, from the album, the warm, lush sound morphs from one measure to the next, from the swamp-soul verses to the gently funky chorus. The song is steeped in the florid r&b of the ’60s and early 1970s, around the heyday of FAME and Stax, but never beholden to mere revivalism.
“Why Don’t You Believe in Me” is all slow-motion strut, with a solid rhythm section anchoring the piano flourishes and flashes of brass, everything coalescing to highlight Prass’ soulful phrasing. With the luxuriance of Dusty Springfield and the reedy expressiveness of Diana Ross, her voice sounds full in its lower register and fluttery when she careens toward the higher notes. Prass is one of those rare singer-songwriters who is most confident and compelling when she’s examining her greatest uncertainties and fears. “Why Don’t You Believe in Me” pleads with a lover not to leave, but it never stoops to beg. Instead, Prass presents her case as logically as possible, as though she is still working through things in her head. “Wanna call you but I don’t, I want to be smarter,” she sings. “Afraid to make my next move.” She may be romantically paralyzed, but the music won’t let her lapse into self-pity or self-absorption. Instead, she musters the guts to promise, “You’ll wish I was with you.”
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