Bethany Cosentino’s debut solo album ‘Natural Disaster’ presents a pleasing mix of folk-pop and indie, with some clever lyricism. There’s more than a few summer anthems to come from this release, including its already available single, ‘For A Moment’; however, bar a couple of hit tracks, the record is nothing special.
The Best Coast vocalist’s new album feels familiar as she has clearly taken influence from artists like Kate Bush, boygenius, Kate Nash and HAIM. This likeness to other artists unfortunately doesn’t charm the listener, but instead makes us feel as though we’ve heard these songs, or at least similar ones before.
However, the album’s strong eponymous opener ‘Natural Disaster’ does feel like one of those upbeat summer pop songs that’s been around forever, which is comforting and puts trust in Cosentino for the remainder of the record. For similar reasons, the album has a glaringly obvious highlight and that is in its single, ‘For A Moment’. Taken straight from the soundtrack of an early 00s romcom, it definitely captures a feeling of summer, freedom and romance which always bodes well for a folk-pop album.
The first half of the album has a totally different tone to the second half, with its songs being much more upbeat, instrumental, and simply louder and more aggressively indie, which suits Bethany Cosentino’s voice. A strong and mature sound, it suits the vibe of ‘A Single Day’ compared to ‘Hope You’re Happy Now’, which sounds like it requires a softer tone. This makes the more upbeat songs more pleasant to listen to, which isn’t unusual for distinctive indie voices. However, it would have been nice to hear a gentler version of her impressively skilled voice.
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The remaining tracks are again, fairly uneventful with the lyrics lacking the impactful delivery that may have been intended. A nice mix of fast and slow but sadly the absence of major variety in this record makes for a relatively mediocre collection.
That being said, the closing track, ‘I’ve Got News For You’ is stunning. A slow and heartfelt piano ballad, the song is a painful account of failing love and admitting to a doomed relationship. Completely reflecting Cosentino’s influences of Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, the country feel to this song – combined with her raspy but clear voice and the slow rhythmic piano bass – make this soulful piece a strong wrap-up for her debut album.
Overall, a pleasantly harmless album with some clear highlights. However, it will be interesting to see how the US singer varies her work as she begins her solo career.
6/10
Words: Alex Berry
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