NATASCHA SOHL

Do TV talent shows leave you cold? Do you ever wonder what happened to the people who just wanted to make music, and whose first concerns weren’t your applause and your worship? The ones who didn’t want just to thrust their bodies at you in lieu of a real gift, but who desired only to move you, shake you, lift you, and maybe chew you to pieces. To make you laugh, to share a feeling, and to tell you that, even in your most shamed and screwed-up moments, someone had been there before, and come back alive. There is a songwriter who, through her music, does all this every time you listen to her.

Natascha Sohl’s debut album, Strange Fascination, is a remarkably palatable and cohesive work. It’s prompted innumerable comparisons to Avril Lavigne and Nelly Furtado. And, on the surface, there are similarities; they are all purveyors of a spirited, spunky rock. But where those two artists build up their work with layer upon layer of artifice, Sohl takes the opposite approach, stripping away all that is false, chipping away at artifice and affectation to reveal truth.

The late, legendary producer Nik Venet, who discovered the Beach Boys and mentored many great pop composers, always stressed the importance of truth in songwriting. This is a concept that Sohl has adeptly grasped. Her soulful, despondent ballads, such as Forgive Me, reveal a writer who realises that you express more by what you leave out, than by what you put in. Genuinely affecting ballads require a notoriously difficult balancing act – if the writer teeters too much to one side, their work is grossly saccharine. But if they wobble to the other, their songs can be limp and unmoving. Using language and music with restraint and a grownup sense of economy, Sohl performs one sleight of hand after another, lifting herself clean above the competition.

Cuts like lead-off single Are You Ready and Give It All Away peel back the outer layers of romantic affliction, to reveal beautiful and ugly realities, like spite, ardour, lust, jealousy and regret. Sohl makes no attempt to patronise her audience by drawing a veil over the darker side of love – and this upfront, b-s-free attitude makes Strange Fascination an absorbing journey of feelings. Sohl’s deceptively sweet voice crawls into the listener’s ears, and catches them unawares. Just as you think you’re going to be lulled and soothed, she outmanoeuvres you with a sudden display of petulance, anguish and bewildered rage. But the wounds she inflicts are then deftly healed through the underlying balm of her artistry. Her album is nothing short of aural seduction.

Amongst the other highlights are Make Your Own Way, with a verse that bristles with all the strutting elegance of the Red Hot Chilli Pepper’s finest work (a comparison that does far more justice to Sohl’s skills than the endless Lavigne references), and the disarmingly candid My Needs. Musically, Sohl has a good grip on the art of the one-hit hook – the twist in a melody line that leaves an audience demanding to hear it again. And again. Strange Fascination’s title track represents the very pinnacle of her gifts. Smart, open, foxy, straight-up and real.

Where other artists present us with mere clay, Natascha Sohl delivers the finished sculpture. Her songs have a longevity beyond mere ‘hit’ songs, because truth has a longer shelf life than fashion.


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Charles Donovan is the Arts Editor of Woman & Home magazine, and a contributor to What’s On In London, The London Telegraph, The London Evening Standard, and allmusic.com, and rollingstone.com
- By Charles Donovan

Natascha Sohl joins the growing legion of female singer-songwriters, it's a fairly crowded genre but soon she will be snapping at the heels of Alanis, Avril...and all the rest.

'Strange Fascination' is a superb debut with a confidence that would shame many an old-stager. It seems that Tash has been steadily building a following through live gigs and commanding the respect of both fans and fellow musos alike.

It would be invidious to single out particular tracks, because the whole album is consistently good. It's upbeat, catchy, angsty, and has the mandatory jangling guitars. If you like female singer-songwriter rock you will not fail to enjoy this.

Oh alright, then, opening track and first single 'Are You Ready?' sets the standard but 'Make Your Own Way', and 'Give It All Away' could both be hit singles. The latter in particular is a well-nigh perfect slice of pop rock that will have 'em air fisting in the auditorium. Great production, too, from Ben Jones.

'Remember Me' is characterised by its urgency, smouldering guitars and stark affirmation: 'Loving you, was it all a big mistake?". 'Walking Thru Space' with its dub backbeat, vocal effects and widescreen orchestration, is splendid.

Natascha Sohl has been described as "Lenny Kravitz meets Alanis Morrisette' but that's a bit throwaway because she's got her own groove and arguably more talent. Catch young Sohl now, because the stadiums beckon. You can smugly say to your mates in a few years time, as they download yet another i-Tune, 'I told you so'.

*****
Review by David Randall

25/8/2004
- www.getreadytorock.com

22nd October 2004

You get the feeling early on in Strange Fascination that Natascha Sohl’s rise is pretty much assured. This is a slick, professional pop album, the bonus is that it’s not bad as well.

Sohl possesses an alluring voice, she is a naturally sexy singer and the 13 songs on the album have been tailored to suit both her voice and her youth. Make no mistake, Strange Fascination is an album designed to sell by the shedload.

It’s accessible, light, energetic and in truth there’s nothing too taxing about it. The attraction of Give It All Away and My Needs is instant, they are pop songs in the classic mould. But what does fight its way through all the production and packaging is that Natascha Sohl has a voice with a future. Fine With Me is gutsy and rootsy, it hints at earthier things to come and she carries off the emotion-drenched ballad Forgive Me very well.

Strange Fascination is a good beginning, but the best of Natascha Sohl is yet to come.
- The Tweeddale Press Group

In Weekend Music section


A very decent debut from a British rocker whom some are already comparing with Avril Lavigne and Alanis Morissette. I’m not quite sure that comparing her with either of those two banshees is much of a compliment, but on this collection you can hear what they’re getting at. There are some very good pop songs here, full of sass, and, er, sohl.
- Daily Express : Friday October 29th 2004

Say hello to Natascha Sohl, a deeply talented singer and songwriter, destined for greatness. Natascha’s album Strange Fascination is the catchiest, coolest thing we’ve heard all year, and we Yo’Zoners can’t stop playing it.

Natascha has a winning way with a melody, and you could well find yourself humming any one of her 13 rock-pop gems before you even realise you’re doing it. Our favourite is the fierce and lovely Give It All Away.

This album is delicious.

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Yo-Zone is a Channel 4-funded magazine website for teens - www.yo-zone.co.uk