PRESS

CD Review - Natalie D-Napoleon: After The Flood ______________________________________________________________________________________________

Deecmber 2008
Review by Danielle Hanrahan

You don't hear much country music in Perth, so you wouldn't ever expect to hear a Perth musician singing country tunes. Perth singer/songwriter Natalie D-Napoleon is changing the local view on this, with her achingly pure and passionate solo release, 'After the Flood.'

The title track, 'After the Flood' has a sound reminiscent of Faith Hill, with lyrics that speak from heartfelt human experiences. D-Napoleon's voice enchants the listener from the beginning, making anyone who isn't a fan of country normally, to review their standing. The alternative-country sound of D-Napoleon brings a raw, young and uplifting voice in a music genre that seems to have fallen stale within Australia and Western Australia.

'Slow Burn' reinforces the nature of the five-track EP with its painful, soaring vocals that seem to stop the listener from whatever they are doing and to completely give themselves to the stories D-Napoleon weaves through her lyrics. D-Napoleon seems to have cleansed her soul through this EP and which audiences can feel through her beautifully married guitar, vocals and lyrics.

After being introduced to a steel string guitar at the age of 15 songwriting has developed into a love affair which never breaks and one which D-Napoleon has learnt on after her own heartbreak, using their experience to both develop as a person and an artist. Launching her musical career in Bloom, an alternative-rock group, D-Napoleon has branched out on her own with 'After the Flood' and will continue to do so in the future.

'Kid Gloves' reinforces D-Napoleon's masterful take on country music from a Western Australian young woman with a Croatian background point of view and it is this different sound of country which makes D-Napoleon truly magnificent in producing this sort of sound. D-Napoleon ends the ep with 'How The World Works,' a truly uplifting tale which makes the vocals of D-Napoleon which is sure to be carried from anywhere in the world thoroughly stuck in your mind that one play to this EP is not enough. An offering of passionate feelings and human experiences brought through the endearing nature of how D-Napoleon delivers each of her songs as well as her haunting voice.

'After the Flood' is a beautifully beguiling solo debut from Natalie D-Napoleon, who has directly changed the face of country music. With a mix of passionate lyrics, delivered with an enchanting voice, that makes this EP a small token of what this artist can do and which we hope to have more of in the future.

Perth Sounds

Heart of the Desert: Natalie D-Napoleon takes on Americana
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Thursday, March 20, 2008
By Matt Singer

Deep within the Mojave Desert resides a rustic bar that services a unique collection of characters that unashamedly thrive in this inhospitable place. Its endless supply of cold beer no doubt helps to make life a little easier, but so too does the music. For, within Pappy & Harriet’s hallowed surrounds, some of contemporary music’s greatest exponents have touted their wares. Bob Dylan has graced the bar’s stage with his presence. So too has Ricky Lee Jones. And Robert Plant has even stopped by to jam with its Sunday evening house band, The Thriftstore Allstars.

A weekly musical confessional conducted by some of the area’s more esteemed players, you never know just who is going to join The Thriftstore Allstars at any given gathering. As the ensemble ambled onto the Pappy & Harriet stage one blistering Sunday evening this past summer, Victoria Williams leaned into the microphone and in her sublimely infectious Louisiana drawl, bellowed “tonight we have a friend all the way from Australia”. And, with that, Perth’s own priestess of alternative-country, Natalie D-Napoleon, took command of the night.

Natalie D-Napoleon’s passage onto the American stage has been far more adventurous than just negotiating the dusty back-roads of the Mojave Desert. For thirteen years the singer-songwriter has been ploughing the rich yet much maligned musical terrain of roots music here in Australia. Having initially risen to prominence in the realm of independent pop with Bloom, it wasn’t long before D-Napoleon was following her roots-filled heart as part of local duo Flavour of the Month.

“I've been plugging away playing these alt-country tunes for thirteen years now and waiting for Australians to get it", confided D-Napoleon. “And it's been a tough journey. When Flavour of the Month released Fear of Falling there was only one reviewer in the whole of Australia who could even name our influences. But what's happened here in the preceding years has been amazing. With people like John Butler and The Waifs gaining popularity, the greater population seems to be finally hearing where I'm coming from musically.”

With the demise of Flavour of the Month came a new found sense of musical freedom and D-Napoleon felt the time was right to head to her musical source. With a recently completed solo recording – After The Flood - in one hand and an acoustic guitar in the other, late last year, the Perth-based musician headed to America. She craved the quintessential American experience; complete with greasy diners, sleazy saloons, and moldy motels. But the experience quickly turned into something more than just a journey across America; it heralded an exploration of her own heart and soul.

“America has always been a kind of Mecca for me, offering all the music I love,” enthused D-Napoleon. “So I wanted to go there to find the source - to go on my own sort of musical pilgrimage. A friend of mine organized a gig at this amazing old Spanish chapel in Santa Barbara and I lent a hand setting things up. And one of my heroes, Victoria Williams, played and we got to talking. A couple of weeks later my friend and I were on a road trip. One thing led to another and I soon found myself in a bar out in the middle of the desert playing with her!”

Her American experience not only afforded the roaming songstress the chance to share her music with America, but also the opportunity to let her songs breathe in the context of a band. For the past year D-Napoleon has been playing in solo mode, so the chance to join Williams on stage and allow The Thriftstore Allstars to offer her compositions a different perspective was greatly appreciated. Particularly given that is ultimately how she would like to be presenting her music.

“The musicians here are really welcoming and open minded and so willing to collaborate,” explained D-Napoleon. “They’ll ask you to play straight away and I really loved that - especially being a solo artist. I jump at any opportunity to play with other people because that’s what I ultimately want to do. The Thriftstore Allstars had a different take on my music and it was a buzz to play with people who are such incredible musicians. And of course, having someone the caliber of Don Heffington come and tell me he really liked After the Flood just blew my mind.”

With After The Flood currently gathering Natalie D-Napoleon some long overdue local attention, the rest of the year will see the singer-songwriter taking her musical ambitions to the road. Along with playing around southern California and venturing out to Austin for SxSW, D-Napoleon will also be joining rising star Devon Sproule on her forthcoming
west coast tour. Natalie D-Napoleon has spent a career ardently tending to her musical roots. It seems only fitting that such conviction now sees a career that is truly blossoming.

VC Reporter

Natalie D-Napoleon: At Rocks, Thursday, November 8
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Thursday, November 15, 2007
By Darian Bleecher

The performance space at Rocks drew a crowd on Thursday evening as Natalie D-Napoleon, fresh off Florida’s Australian Festival, prepared to launch her new CD, After the Flood. The Australian singer/songwriter seems to have garnered quite a following during a recent stay in Santa Barbara. Although the album was officially launched in Australia in October, enough interest in D-Napoleon’s music was generated during her Santa Barbara visit to warrant a stateside release as well.

After an opening set of easygoing acoustic pop by Jesse Rhodes, D-Napoleon breezed confidently onstage and kicked off her set with “The Party,” a sassy, accusatory number that showcased her strong, soaring vocals. After a handful of solo numbers, D-Napoleon was joined by an impressive roster of talent. The sublimely talented Kenny Edwards joined in after the third song and remained by D-Napoleon’s side for the rest of the evening, enhancing her skilled strumming with his atmospheric electric guitar and mandolin.

D-Napoleon’s songs of love and longing, sung with an endearing country twang and laced with an Australian accent, trace a raw yet joyous path through human relationships. Between songs, she charmed the audience with personal anecdotes. After a quick primer on Australian versus American English to ensure that her lyrics wouldn’t be lost in translation, D-Napoleon treated the audience to “Slow Burn,” a lyrically vivid, beseeching lament delivered in clear, crisp tones. In “Jeff Tweedy’s 49th Beard,” D-Napoleon breathily describes an imagined tryst with the Wilco singer. “Daisy Grinding,” a sad lament that launched D-Napoleon’s last band, Flavour of the Month, into the Australian spotlight, saw multi-instrumentalist Dan Phillips on piano. On “How Seamless Seemed Love,” D-Napoleon was ably accompanied by Phillips on percussion, Edwards on electric guitar, and Rhodes on backing vocals. As the evening drew to a close, Leonard Cohen collaborator and Santa Barbara-based singer/songwriter Julie Christensen lent some countrified harmonies to the chorus of “After the Flood,” fittingly titled, for now that the floodgates of D-Napoleon’s enormous talent have been opened on either side of the Pacific, we can hope to hear a lot more from her on this end.

Santa Barbara Independent

Napoleon Down Under: The Alt-Country Stylings of Natalie D-Napoleon and Friends Come to Rocks
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Thursday, November 1, 2007
By D.J. Palladino

Many towns can claim themselves as comfy nexuses of country music. There’s Bakersfield, which harbored Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard, or Austin, Texas, home to Willie Nelson and Alejandro Escovedo, among many others. But my favorite new capital of the musical c-word is Fremantle, nestled next to Perth in the far west end of Western Australia. That’s where Natalie D-Napoleon first heard alt-country, and it’s where the singer/songwriter?—?performing at Rocks this Friday with an all-star cast?—?rediscovered her backbeat muses.

“Fremantle’s a beautiful place,” she told me over the phone from those precise geographical coordinates last week. “It’s a working-class town, a harbor, so the rents are reasonable, and a lot of artists have settled here.” The scene was rich in music, or at least it seemed that way because of its close proximity to Perth (heralded as “the Australian Austin”) and its rich pub scene. One of the few such places left in Australia since pub gambling became legal and slot machines replaced band stages, Perth features a nice combo of beer-drinking music lovers?—?both “wharfies” from the docks and bohemians from their flavorful garrets. “It was the indie-rock ’90s when I first started hearing alt-country bands from the States. Bands like Uncle Tupelo, Whiskeytown, and the Jayhawks, and that was it.” (It was Ryan Adams who eventually made her pick up guitar and pen with renewed vigor.)

D-Napoleon, who already had a rock career, considers herself a writer first (she’s had success publishing short stories in Australian literary journals), but neo-country gave her a framework for storytelling, though she prefers a bit of ambiguity. “I write these songs, and maybe I have ten ideas going through my head, and then I sing a song three or four different ways and suddenly I get it, I realize why the song makes sense” she laughed. “I also love it when people come and tell me what they think a song is about.”
Natalie grew up hearing her father sing a combo of Croat folk songs and American standards like “Blue Bayou” in a truck on the way to the market. The family had a small farm, and their other legacy was their land.

She comes by her unusual name honestly, by the way. Though born in Fremantle, her parents originally ventured over from Croatia. The family’s legend tells of an ancestor who became the French emperor’s lover (hence, Di Napoleon) when the general was making his way though the Balkans. Natalie grew up hearing her father sing a combo of Croat folk songs and American standards like “Blue Bayou” in a truck on the way to the market. The family had a small farm, and their other legacy was their land. “I spent a lot of time wandering through the bush?—?I guess you would call it forests.” Her parents weren’t wild about her career plans, but didn’t interfere.

“I really always just loved music, but the funny thing is I didn’t really get into it until after college,” said D-Napoleon. She tried busking in Fremantle before playing clubs: “I never played covers,” she said, laughing. “I wasn’t a good enough musician to play other people’s music, so I played my own.” She started a rock band called Bloom, met a musician named Grant Ferstadt, had her alt-rock conversion experience, and formed Flavor of the Month, which played in both Australia and the United States. “We even played Santa Barbara,” laughed D-Napoleon. The band was befriended by Brett Leigh Dicks, a freelance writer and promoter, who at the time was writing for Revolver and Australia’s version of Rolling Stone.

For better or worse, D-Napoleon’s solo act came a few years after the band broke up. She went home to Fremantle and, for several years, stayed away from her guitar. “Then I just started writing songs again,” she said. She came to visit Dicks (who had since immigrated to Santa Barbara), and planned to perform last summer when Dicks brought Victoria Williams to the Presidio. Though last-minute technical problems prevented the double bill from happening, D-Napoleon went on to befriend Williams and joined her onstage at a club in the high desert oasis of Pioneertown. There she also met Glen Phillips and a number of California players. “That was unbelievable,” she said. In the meantime, back in the country-western fulcrum of Fremantle, D-Napoleon recorded a sampler of her new music, ranging from straight country to harder (more satisfying) rock numbers, which she will play on Thursday, November 8, at Rocks. Though D-Napoleon lists Neko Case, Gillian Welch, and Patti Griffin on her list of people she sounds like, the real resemblance is to another Natalie: Early, 10,000 Maniacs-era Merchant, who drew frequently on natural metaphors, immediately comes to mind.

At Rocks, D-Napoleon will draw a number of her newfound American friends, including the inimitable Victoria Williams, who “doubles” as vocalist and guitarist. But D-Napoleon is equally excited that folk rock legend Kenny Edwards (of Linda Ronstadt and Karla Bonoff fame) will be playing, too. “I just can’t believe it. He was a Stone Poney,” she said in awe. But that’s nothing; he’ll be playing behind D-Napoleon, an alt cowgirl from the west end of the antipodes.

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Natalie D-Napoleon will hold a CD launch party for her debut U.S. release, After the Flood, on Thursday, November 8, at Rocks nightclub, 801 State St., at 8 p.m. She’ll share the stage with friends Kenny Edwards, Dan Phillips, Victoria Williams, and Jesse Rhodes.

Santa Barbara Independent