Approaching yet another release in my usual state of blissful ignorance, my initial puritanical distaste at the ‘Hollywood’ name was counterbalanced by the discovery that she had once covered Althea and Donna’s Uptown Top Ranking. She finally got me onside with a quote that her time at an arts college in Nottingham was “like the kids from Fame but without the legwarmers”. For any other similarly unenlightened readers (it’s OK, your secret’s safe with me), Niblett is British born though now US based, and the ‘Scout’ refers to the lead character from To Kill a Mockingbird – replacing the much more delicately English ‘Emma Louise’.

Delicate is definitely not a word that springs to mind when describing much of her music. Fanatical would be a possibility. The largely minimalist style of raw voice and tub-thumping drums and/or stubby just plug’n’play guitar owe much to her drawing inspiration from Cobain and his ilk, and has been moulded by work with Chicago engineer/producer Steve Albini. You might hear some of Cat Power or PJ Harvey’s direct emotion. “Fishes And Honey” sees Niblett alone at the piano, but she is typically a bit more ‘out there’ – like Bjork goes grunge, especially on “Moon Lake” and “Dinosaur Egg” – having either loose drum’n’bass style percussion or lone guitar accompanying respectively. “Let Thine Heart Be Warmed” and “Hide And Seek” are fleshed out with co-ordinated muddy thrashes and straight between the eyes drum assaults. “Dinosaur Egg” was a strange choice for a single, being one of the weaker songs in this collection, and when things are this direct, if it doesn’t work there’s no place to hide. The two and a half minute “Your Last Chariot” is the pick of the open-throttle rages.

Much more to my taste are the handful of songs that have some of the rough edges knocked off – or at least some bubble wrap over the sharp corners. “Yummy” has soothing liquid cello tones to pour into the mix; “Black Hearted Queen” has a warmer guitar tone and a string arrangement straight out of the Cold Mountain soundtrack, followed by bizarre lullaby highlight “River Of No Return”. Without the credits in front of me, for all I know this could actually be a cover of the theme to the 50′s Western film of the same name. I suspect so – you can see the hero leaving his girl and riding off into the sunset, and if nothing else proves that I’m a big softie. It’s a duet with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, and he also features on “Do You Want To Be Buried With My People?”, “Comfort You” and “Kiss”. The latter is a “House Of The Rising Sun” lament and an emotional peak.

So, not an easy listen, but with an unexpected range of styles drawn from a sparse but powerful palate. An occasional yelp and squeal, and a couple of songs that don’t quite hit the mark, but a forceful and uncompromising sound that you can’t help but admire.
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Links
Scout Niblett [official site] [myspace]