NLX

In Your Face/Behind Your Back

After hearing the brilliant track “Refuel,” off of In Your Face, we’re inspired. New York’s NLX (a.k.a. Natasha Alexandra) has a knack for dark electronic production and smart, edgy pop melodies. A little bit Tori Amos, PJ Harvey, Sneaker Pimps, and Zero-7 — and a lot Nine Inch Nails — she channels both aggression and vulnerability into her piano-driven compositions.

Arrangements are sparse and engaging from the start, and Natasha’s voice leads with equal parts purity and world-weariness.

She collaborated with different producers on Behind Your Back and In Your Face; both have distinct flavors, but are unmistakably products of the same highly creative spirit.

If great songwriting’s your bag, both most definitely deserve a listen.

Michael Gallant
- Keyboard Magazine

NLX: Natasha Alexandra
" In Your Face "
Genre: rock

reviewed by Madalyn Sklar

I popped in the CD “In Your Face” from NLX: Natasha Alexandra and I’m floored by the music. This is IN YOUR FACE (no pun intended) music. Her vocals are strong and bold.

The production is extremely high. And the packaging immediately caught my eye. NLX is the real deal... so watch out!


Contact Info:

- GoGirls Music

"In 2004, more than 600 songwriters submitted songs in the hope of being selected to
participate in one of the quarterly Songwriters Hall of Fame New Writers Showcases sponsored that
year. From those 600, only 36 actually got to perform. From those 36, only 12 were featured on
SHOF's annual New Writers CD compilation. NLX's track, What Do You Wanna Know?, is the first
featured track on that recording. If this says to you that NLX is extraordinary, outstanding, compelling,
distinctive & very, very special, then I've made my point." - Bob Leone, Projects Director, Songwriters Hall of Fame. - SHOF Showcase review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTHIMnhsxzg - Shaw TV

http://www.desensationalist.com/nlxmusic/epk/SPOT%20032307.pdf - SPOT

Score: 8.2 / 10.0

Two things determine how we formulate opinions about records. The first, obviously, is the music, be it the technical nuts and bolts, the lyrics, the delivery, the arrangements, that atmosphere, the songwriting, or whatever else that we talk about in reviews. It’s what the bulk of reviews are written about. It’s what most people look for in a critic’s work. The second aspect of any record, though, is one that no artist can predict. It’s the listener. And not just the tastes of which that listener is explicitly aware; it’s the moment in that listener’s life at which a particular artist’s record enters that really, ultimately, determines how that listener will process it.

People like to think that there are certain immutable qualities to any record, but consider this: someone who listened to Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago right after getting dumped would probably connect with that record on a much deeper level (and as a result, like it more) than would someone who was happily in a relationship or happily single. The fresher the wounds from that breakup, the better the record would sound. Why is this? While the musical quality of a record matters, it can be completely eclipsed by the feeling that a record was written for you, to soundtrack a moment in your life. That’s a powerful, intoxicating feeling; and it’s one that not every album can induce.

I’ve listened to NLX’s Bitch Get Fit more than a few times now. I’ve been processing it on an objective level, sure: it’s essentially straight, focused, unpretentious pop music that focuses on Natasha Alexandra’s whispery, gossamer vocals (think Amy Winehouse meets Sarah MacLachlan, only without all the sucking that combination implies). Alexandra weaves delicately crafted melodies into Byron Kent Wong’s minimalist beats and unobtrusive synthesizers. Alexander is heavily reliant on harmonies to thicken her music, at times almost seeming unsure of how to employ more instruments. Bitch Get Fit probably would have benefitted from a little more instrumental variety, a little brass here and there, some swooning strings to deepen the drama. Instead, NLX found a formula – one that works, mind you – and stuck with it. And to her credit, the formula she’s chosen is simple, giving the songs room to breathe, even if it does tip Bitch Get Fit into the realm of electronic minimalism rather than straight ahead pop or whatever more than Alexandra might have intended.

What’s more, Bitch Get Fit is an unapologetically heart-on-sleeve affair. From the (admittedly kind of affected) delivery in the first lines of “Buckle Up,” Alexandra is talking about the usual suspects: pain, loss, ambivalence, confusion, and that infamous thin line between love and hate. It’s well-worn thematic material, but Alexandra throws her arms around it, singing like every line is a discovery. And so, in spite of the fact that you may have heard it all before, Alexandra doesn’t seem to know or care; her sincerity is undisputable.

But honestly, none of that really matters.

It could well be that this record just caught me at the right time, but in all my listens, there was something intangible hanging in every song, written under every lyric. Whether by NLX’s design or by accident, I felt like this record was mine. I felt as though the songs were tailored to me, as though they had been written with me in mind. And because of that, the flaws and strengths of the record largely ceased to matter (or at least they mattered way less): I just sat and listened. And when the record finished, I started right back at the beginning. So NLX has created a record here that, in spite of whatever flaws it may have, has a very personal appeal to me, the listener – forget about me the critic for a second. Bitch Get Fit wasn’t crafted with critics in mind; it’s a listener’s record. But make no mistake: for a record to so clearly speak to even one person, to communicate so clearly through music to anyone is a praiseworthy accomplishment from a critical standpoint as well; it speaks to the quality of her craft that NLX so compellingly communicates her message, and does so in such a way that listeners can relate to her.

Different records will hit different people at different times in different ways; there are no records that will hit everyone. But when a record hits you, you’ll feel it. I don’t expect Bitch Get Fit to hit you the way it hit me (it might, but I don’t expect it). I don’t believe that my experience of this record will be yours. But the important thing is that it could hit you. And not every album released has the potential to reach anyone on a really profound level; not a lot of albums convincingly invite the listener to connect with the artist in a meaningful way; Bitch Get Fit does. It opens its door and invites you in to hear stories that they you make your own. In my mind, that makes it worth a listen or two. If you’re up to the task, buckle up.

- Never Learned To Swim Blog

Natasha Alexandra is NLX, a singer-songwriter from Hamilton Ontario, now making her home in New York City. She has just released her 3rd CD, Bitch Get Fit. One of the cool things about NLX is that she has her own sound. She plays piano and sings with some darkness and mystery in her songs, which makes them interesting. Standout tracks include: Find Love, So Far Apart, Buckle Up, Spin and Getting Off. Go to www.bitchgetfit.com to hear a bunch of her songs. - The Street Date - CBS Radio Blog

Here's a random post about a wonderful musician whose new CD was released last week at live shows in Toronto and New York. Sample tracks from NLX's (that stands for Natasha Alexandra) new, full-length CD entitled "Bitch get Fit" are up on MySpace and NLX's Facebook fan page. Also, they are being played around the clock on my office computer.

My sister introduced me to Natasha's music about three or so years ago, and I had the chance to catch her play live while she was still calling Toronto her home. Her CDs, now released as "In your face" and "Behind your back" (both available on iTunes) made it onto my personal regular rotation. Since then, she's moved to New York to play gigs and work on her music full time.

If the tracks I've heard are any indication, the New York scene has given her music a more complex feel, without losing the edgy, occasionally aggressive and terse, mood and lyrical content (truth be told, that's my favourite kind). She likes to describe herself as "[Nine Inch Nails' frontman] Trent Reznor with t*ts." She might add "and a piano," but that's her call.

Give NLX a listen. But be prepared to wait anxiously for her new CD. That's what I've been doing for the last two weeks. Which should help explain this random post. Sort of cathartic, in a way. - The Shotgun Blog - Western Standard

http://indiesoundsny.typepad.com/indie_sounds_ny/2009/04/nlx-nails-it-rockwood.html - Indie Sounds NY