Kate Nash

A playful, style-shifting pop artist, Kate Nash is most associated with tuneful, piano-driven songs and a tendency toward blunt, cheeky lyrics delivered in a distinctive London accent. After going all the way to number one in the U.K. with her platinum-selling debut, 2007's Made of Bricks, featuring her biggest hit, the Top Three single "Foundations," she reinvented her sound with each successive album, tackling neo-soul, synth pop, and indie rock stylings throughout the 2010s. While still offering moments of irreverence, her more melancholy fifth album, 2024's 9 Sad Symphonies, adopted orchestrated pop inspired by old Hollywood musicals. Although born in Dublin on July 6, 1987, Nash moved to North West London as a child and grew up amidst British pop culture. She learned to play the piano at school and took an early interest in acting, but a rejection from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School dashed her hopes of a theater career. Following a foot injury that forced her to remain at home while the bones healed, Nash turned her focus to songwriting instead, looking for a diversion from the boredom that came with the recovery process. She booked herself a local gig to showcase the songs she had written while housebound; soon after, Nash uploaded home recordings of those compositions to social media. A contemporary of Lily Allen's, the two frequently championed each other's music on their accounts coming up. As Nash's Internet popularity grew, she began releasing tangible copies of her music. Her first single was a 7" vinyl-only pressing of "Caroline's a Victim," backed with the acoustic track "Birds" and released by the London-based indie label Moshi Moshi Records. This led to a major-label deal with Fiction, an offshoot of Polydor Records that housed such mainstream artists as the Cure and Snow Patrol. Fiction released Kate Nash's first official single, "Foundations," which reached number two on the U.K. charts and remained there for five weeks during the summer of 2007. Nash furthered her star status by appearing at various festivals that summer -- including the O2 Wireless Festival, Isle of Wight, and Glastonbury -- and made television appearances on Later with Jools Holland, The Jack Daniels Set, Popworld, and The Friday Night Project. To capitalize on the surprise success of "Foundations," her debut album, Made of Bricks, was rush-released in August 2007. It entered the U.K. charts at number one and was released in America the following January, where it cracked the Top 40. Nash began working on her second album in March 2009. By June, former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler had signed on as the album's producer, and Nash began posting rough demo recordings online as the studio sessions continued. My Best Friend Is You was released the following year, bringing with it a newfound appreciation for Motown and peppy, sugary neo-soul. It peaked at number eight in the U.K. and number 62 stateside while, like her debut, also charting across Europe. In 2013, Nash returned with her third studio album, Girl Talk, which featured a more edgy, punk- and indie rock-influenced sound. It landed outside the Top 50 in countries including the U.K. (number 85), the U.S. (123), and Germany (55). That year, she also issued the holiday-themed Have Faith with Kate Nash This Christmas, which included "I Hate You This Christmas" and "Christmas Is in the Air" with the Tuts. The "Good Summer" single followed in 2016. The next year she issued the Agenda EP, featuring the singles "Call Me" and "My Little Alien" (which would later reappear on her next LP). In addition to Agenda, 2017 also saw Nash flex her acting career with a role on the female wrestling show GLOW. In 2018, she returned with her fourth long-player, Yesterday Was Forever. Inspired by re-reading her teenage diaries, it favored her earlier pop sound but with a heavier synth presence. It featured contributions from producers and songwriters including (but not limited to) Jarrad K, Frederik Thaae, Julia Michaels, and Tom Biller. In 2022, her feminist-themed musical Only Gold, with book by Andy Blankenbuehler and Ted Malawer, premiered off-Broadway with Nash in the role of the Narrator. Inspired by vintage Hollywood musicals, she incorporated orchestral arrangements into her next album, the Thaae-produced 9 Sad Symphonies. Informed by personal heartbreak, self-examination, and an increasingly bleak news cycle, it was her most earnest outing yet. Released in June 2024, 9 Sad Symphonies marked her Kill Rock Stars label debut. ~ Andrew Leahey & Marcy Donelson