Nerina Pallot
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| Nerina Pallot | |
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 Nerina Pallot at Cornbury Music Festival, 2006
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Nerina Natasha Georgina Pallot |
| Born | April 26, 1975 |
| Origin | Jersey, CI |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Label(s) | Polydor Records (2000-2002) Idaho Records (2004-2005) 14th Floor Records (2005-present) |
| Website | NerinaPallot.com |
Nerina Natasha Georgina Pallot (born April 26, 1975) is a Platinum selling, BRIT Award nominated British singer and songwriter. She was born in London to a French father and mother from Allahabad in India and brought up in Jersey.
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[edit] Career
[edit] Dear Frustrated Superstar
Pallot released her debut album on Polydor records, Dear Frustrated Superstar, in August 2001. This spawned two commercial singles, "Patience" and "Alien", both played by Dermot O'Leary on BBC Radio 2 with a third single, "If I Know You" mooted, a video for which was filmed, but has never been publicly shown. Her album was withdrawn before an arena tour with Bryan Adams, and was never re-issued.
Subsequently she was dropped from the label partly as a result of a message she wrote on the Tipsheet message board relating to the actions of her A&R man around remixes of "Photograph", a track that was intended to be on the re-issued Dear Frustrated Superstar. This incident and many others related to the industry and her experiences with her debut album are discussed in stories on her official web site.
In 2003 she sang lead vocals on the track "Truly" on Delerium's album Chimera, which was also released as a single in the UK.
[edit] Fires
Her second album, Fires, was released in April 2005 on her own independent label, Idaho. It was published by Chrysalis Music Publishing, who have stuck with her since her Polydor days and provided her with a development deal. They initially provided her with £50,000 to make the album. When that proved insufficient for Pallot's needs, she remortgaged her house to pay for the rest of the album and for living expenses.
Pallot wrote all of the songs on Fires on her own.
The album was produced and mixed by Howard Willing (OK Go, Stevie Nicks, Lisa Marie Presley, Melissa Auf der Maur, Liz Phair, The Smashing Pumpkins, Van Hunt), with producers Eric Rosse (Tori Amos, Lisa Marie Presley, Anna Nalick) who produced "Learning to Breathe" and "Heart Attack" (co-produced by Howard) and Wendy Melvoin (member of Prince's band The Revolution) who produced "Damascus". After the initial tracks were finished the rest of the record was apparently completed by Howard and Nerina flying files back and forth from London to Los Angeles. With the contacts and friendships that he had acquired over the years they were able to obtain the help of A-level musicians.
The album was preceded by a download-only single, "Everybody's Gone to War". A second single from the record, "Damascus" was released in June 2005, and a third, "All Good People" (a Radio 2 single of the week) was released in September 2005.
After signing with 14th Floor Records (see below), a re-issue of the album which was more 'spangly' (Pallot's words) and featured additional strings on some tracks, was released on April 24, 2006, earning Pallot a chart success by reaching #21. With over 100,000 sales it was certified gold in the UK.[1]
The first single from the revamped album was "Everybody's Gone to War", which was playlisted on most major British radio stations. A video can be seen on most music television stations and on her MySpace profile. The single became a 'turntable hit', becoming the third most played song on British radio the week before its release, and it reached #14 in the UK Singles Chart.
The second single from the album was "Sophia", a re-recorded version, created in LA along with producer Mitchell Froom, which entered the UK singles chart at #32. In April of 2007, the song was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award.
The next single from the re-released version of Fires was "Learning to Breathe", which only reached #70 in the UK singles chart; the fact this was actually the fifth single to be taken from the album over its two releases was a major factor in its low chart position.
[edit] A third solo album
Nerina has been writing and working on demo songs for a third album. It is expected to be released at some time in 2008. New songs which Nerina has regularly performed at more recent gigs, "Heidi" and "Everything's Illuminated", are rumoured to be two of these demos. Another demo, "The Long Tall Grass of Summer," was premiered on her MySpace site in late 2007, while several other new songs were debuted at her two concerts in the Jersey Opera House on January 26 and January 27, 2008, including "The Right Side" and "It Was Me," as well as "When Did I Become Such A Bitch?" and "I Used To Love You Until You Tried To Kill Me". Another new song, 'I do not want what I do not have', co written by Linda Perry was also posted onto her myspace page in late May. As is demonstrated by these tracks, many of Nerina's new songs bear long titles, and she puts this down to her tendency to 'waffle' (talk a lot). "I Do Not What Want What I Do Not Have" was also a line in the song Daily Bread on Pallot's debut album Dear Frustrated Superstar
[edit] Tours
.jpg/180px-Nerina_Pallot_at_Cornbury_Music_Festival_(2006).jpg)
Pallot has toured the UK many times as support act to more established singer-songwriters such as Sheryl Crow, James Blunt, Suzanne Vega, Joseph Arthur, Ray LaMontagne and Missy Higgins. She was a crowd favourite at the 2005 Guilfest music festival and headlined her own show at Bush Hall in Shepherd's Bush, London later that year.
The first full headlining tour for the Fires album took place in May 2006, details of which can be found on the 14th Floor Records website. During the year she also played headline shows in London at ICA, the Bloomsbury Theatre, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre and a triumphant gig at Shepherds Bush Empire.
Her most recent UK & Ireland tour took place in January and February of 2007, taking in venues in Penzance, Bristol, Cambridge, Milton Keynes, Manchester, Newcastle, Warwick, Brighton, Belfast, Dublin, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Sheffield.
[edit] Videos
Pallot has released five videos to go with singles from Dear Frustrated Superstar and Fires . Her first video for "Patience" features Pallot in various scenes, notably wearing white and barefoot, continually floating to and from earth. "Alien" begins with Pallot lying down, it then becomes apparent that she had fallen onto a plumber's van, crushing it, and the video implies she has fallen from the sky "like an alien". The unreleased "If I Know You" video features multiple Nerinas fighting each other in a theatre. For "Damascus", Pallot is seen playing piano and singing in a recording studio. Pallot's next video was for "Everybody's Gone to War", which includes cabbage-throwing goths and pineapple bombs, gets across a deeper message while at the same time being light-hearted and funny. Her next video was for "Sophia", and was filmed in the middle of the desert in Morocco. It has Pallot sitting at a piano, playing and singing while fire surrounds her in a circle and her piano smokes and is also alight. Nerina's next performance, "Learning To Breathe", is more "abstract" and is computer generated with her playing the guitar in a house with many pictures decorating the walls.
[edit] Recent events
At the end of 2005, Pallot signed with major label, 14th Floor Records (a Warner label), which is the home of Damien Rice and Joseph Arthur.
Her music has recently been featured in the Myspace Movie/Show Beyond The Rave.
She is presently enjoying a great deal of media attention as a result of the success of the first single from the revamped Fires album.
Highlights include:
- 'Record of the Week' on BBC Radio 1.
- A spot on Top of the Pops.
- BBC One's Heaven and Earth with Gloria Hunniford on June 18, 2006.
- A cover story in The Times magazine (see link below).
- An appearance on The Charlotte Church Show on September 29, 2006.
- An appearance on Children in Need 2006 broadcast November 18, 2006.
- A BRIT Award Nomination for Best British Female 2007.
- An appearance on Never Mind the Buzzcocks broadcast January 31 2007.
- An appearance on Live from Abbey Road in March 2007, performing the song "Idaho". The live session was recorded in November 2006 and she shared her episode with The Zutons, Ray LaMontagne and Shawn Colvin.
[edit] Awards and Nominations
Pallot was nominated for British Female Solo Artist in the 2007 BRIT Awards.
On the 23rd of April 2007, it was announced that she had been nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for Sophia in the category of Best song (Musically and Lyrically).
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Release Date | Album | Chart Positions |
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| UK Albums Chart | ||
| August 20, 2001 | Dear Frustrated Superstar | #82 |
| April 4, 2005 | Fires | Failed to chart (#10 iTunes UK Chart) |
| April 24, 2006 | Fires (Re-issue) | #21 |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |||||
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| UK | UK Airplay | AUS | NET | SWE | SWI | |||
| 2001 | "Patience" |
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Dear Frustrated Superstar |
| "Alien" |
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| 2004 | "Truly" (Delerium featuring Nerina Pallot) |
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Chimera |
| 2005 | "Damascus" 1 |
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Fires |
| "All Good People" |
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| 2006 | "Everybody's Gone To War" |
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| "Sophia" |
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| 2007 | "Learning To Breathe" |
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| Notes 1 "Damascus" charted at #180 in the Physical CD Sales Chart, but it did not make the overall Singles Chart. | ||||||||
[edit] Personal Life
She married fellow Jersey resident and Grammy nominated record producer, Andy Chatterley on February 14th 2007. The couple now reside in London but pay visits to Jersey quite frequently.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Nerina's Myspace blog
- Label website
- Times article
- Interview at Wears the Trousers Magazine
- Article by Nerina on her internet presence at Wears the Trousers Magazine
[edit] References
- ^ The BPI: Certified Awards, June 9 2006
