Straight from St. Petersburg, Russia (by way of Poland) with love comes the award-winning Natalia [Do It Right Records] on an introductory five-song EP disc entitled "Electrosoul."
At times Natalia sings in the same register or key as Madonna, circa 1993. I thought about chastising her for that, but also realized that you have to take into consideration her God-given vocal instrument. Torn between the points of view, I decided to call her up and ask how she felt about the comparison. Interestingly enough, she said that she has heard that "several times before. I feel weird about it [because] whe I first started, I heard it a lot from people, and I think it's because my music is Madonna and a lot of people associate Madonna with electronica and this music."
In other words, that just may be her natural sound. She told me that she is more "soulful" than "electro," as you will hear, but with a slightly deeper pitch than the Material one. "I'll take it as a compliment," she says, "she is an amazing performer; I just saw her recently earlier this year, and I'm blown away!" Her website features fresh quotes, one of which tells the story of her seeing Madonna in person and she refers to her as a "Goddess!" So I don't think the similarity is intentional, just a pleasant coincidence when you consider that growing up, Natalia listened to the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and other jazz singers. She also digs Depeche Mode, and maybe there is where the electricity comes from.
Now residing in Connecticut, she sees big possibilities for herself. She is working at "reducing [her] accent and the little things that will help record better." When I asked her the major differences she noticed between the U.S. and the Russia/Poland area she is from, she said that it is "Much more disciplined where I come from, and the youth are more spoiled here in the U.S, as they don't appreciate what they have." Obviously it would not be possible for her to pursue a singing career back ther as she is here. I suggested to her that between the unusually warm December weather we are experiencing, and her youth culture observations, now she has some fresh material for lyrics to her future albums. Natalia wrote all of the music on this EP and told me that these are five songs chosen out of fifty that she sent to her producer during the last two years. Wow!
About the music, "My Life" ( track one) is her favorite and a good beginning. I find track four, "Because of You" reminds me of a Janet Jackson record called "Funny How Time Flies..." When I told her that during our talk, she said that I'm not the first person to draw that analogy either. So at least she flies in good company, Madonna and Janet; I guess you gotta sound like somebody – nothing is totally new anymore, I guess. That sentiment saddens me a bit, so let's lighten the mood with a Natalia quirky amusing anectdote from her young career!
She told me of a time during one of her recent live shows here when her stage dancers chose not to show-up. "They forgot; they were not responsible people" she said. So she performed without them as there was such a long line outside waiting to see the headlining act. Needless to say, now she has hired other dancers!
Natalia seems to be pretty astute and focused on getting it right. She is even aware of the "Clear Channel" effect of diminishing possibilities these days, thus the self-made "Do It Right" records. Should she steadfastly maintain this attitude, she will enjoy some success on the charts. I hope her first real album contains three times more songs, and so for clean production and an ear friendly sample here I will invest four shocking stars.
