Wake

I first heard Sheila Nicholls at a house concert in 1999. I bought her first album, Brief Strop, at that time. Years later, I was excited to find out she had another album, Wake.If you are familiar with Sheila's first album, then you will be pleased to know that her emotional presentation comes through on her second album as well. However, it is augmented by new instrumentation, effects, and some electronic rhythm.The first track, How Strong, is my favourite on the album. It is inspiring, personal, and also widely applicable. This album helped me feel strong during times when I needed to. Thanks, Sheila.Ruby is another favourite, since I heard it live, but it didn't appear on Brief Strop. The hidden gem is a secret track at the end of the CD, which I swear I heard live as well. I don't know the title, but it is more remeniscent of the style of Brief Strop and the lyrics are absolutely superb.Although I still love Brief Strop more than Wake, it has become a staple in my collection, and is often heard playing at loud volumes in my little blue pick-up truck on the tropical island of Hawaii.

Do yourself a favor - discover her now. This album is the kind of album you play once and say, "huh, I liked that." You play a couple more times, and you start to recognize some phrasing and lyrics and say, "wow, I really like this." Then, finally, after playing it scores of times and telling all your friends about it, you say, "why isn't she more famous?!"Her voice is smooth and yet she can use it to be edgy without being grating. Her songwriting is true and honest and different, and her lyrical skills in particular are really worth paying attention to. By far one of the best of the new singer-songwriter class - I love her almost as much as I love Nellie McKay.

I am so glad that I discovered Sheila Nicholls. She has met with some success around the world, but she is still a undiscovered gem and that can be a good thing.

I have both of Sheila Nicholls' albums, the raw piano-and-girl Brief Strop and the world music-influenced Wake, and both of them call out to me over and over again. I can background them while I work, or I can tune in and get swept up in the melodies and the truth. I eagerly await more from this talented artist!

British-born Sheila Nicholls first burst onto the national music radar with the High Fidelity feature tune, "Fallen For You," has returned with her sophomore album, Wake. Her newest release strays from her debut, Brief Strop, by upping the production element ten-fold but maintains her freeform stream of social consciousness lyricism speaking against the evils of war and the quest for equality. With four producers, Jakko M. Jakszyk, Jez Colin (Morcheeba), Glen Ballard (Alanis Morissette), and Nicholls herself, many would expect Wake to be a sonic mishmash of various styles, but Nicholls total creative control clause in her contract allows the disc to flow smoothly blending each of the producers' expertise and individual style with her alto and piano playing residing in the foreground of each track. Though the additional production makes Wake less intimate and spontaneous than her debut, it also adds a level of accessibility and maturity missing from Brief Strop. The first single, the Ballard produced self-affirming "Faith," starts off with a rather bright banjo opening line which slides down to the bottom of the mixing board as the tune progresses. The acid-jazz of Colin produced tracks ("Bread & Water," "Come To Me") would make Sade proud while Ballard produced "Breath" provides one of the discs standout numbers as the uber-producer ventures into familiar territory with an Arabic tinge and chorus turntable scratches. With Wake, Sheila Nicholls maintains her artistic integrity while creating an album in which many should be able to enjoy and find empowerment.

She is among the greatest talent of this century!

The mythical Phoenix, as portrayed in this CD artwork, introduces the listener to what lies ahead with each listening of "Wake." With themes of overcoming the adversities of apathy (Seven Fat Englishmen), bad relationships (Ruby), and doubt (Faith) Sheila Nicholls encourages as well as entertains with lyrics so deep you could swim in them. "How Strong Am I?" - The Phoenix in each of us needs a wake up call. This is it. "There's a nature we innately understand that we rarely listen to." Melle Vasquez on background vocals and Sheila team up on this song as they deliver an opening statement designed to wake the apathetic souls. "Faith", the first single, features one of the best studio guitarists - Michael Landau teamed with Glen Ballard who co-produces the song with Sheila. Sheila's distinctively confident voice reassures that you could move any mountain once you "surrender to the storm." "Bread and Water" - An after break-up lament. Very moving. Complete with "Ghost in my snow" imagery. A must song for anyone who hasn't quite yet moved to the next step of the relationship grieving process - "Mac and Cheese?" "Maze", undoubtably the most personal cut, displays the vulnerable side of relationships and their complexity. "Love Song"- Acoustic guitar fans will appreciate this cover of the classic. Melle Vasquez provides superb background vocals.The laughter of children at the song's end adds to this awesome cover. "Ruby", - An absolute fun song on the rocks that pokes fun at a breakup. I'm not going to spoil this song, I'll just say that the guy deserved it! "Seven Fat Englishmen" - You can smell the gin, feel the pain of these guys... "Won't Get Lost in You" - A happy song song about the unexpected twists around every corner of love and every highway of friendship. "Come To Me" - With a light jazz groove, this song explores relationships with a new blue light. "Breath" - An uptempo closer where Sheila breaks new ground with a song that could write it's own eclectic video. Exceptional production by Glen Ballard and Sheila. "Hidden Track" - Worth the wait.... Overall, if you are looking for a new singer/songwriter who still treats music as art and not as the craft of a record company executive then you need to try this CD. She's even better in concert!

I'd never heard of Sheila Nicholls before and purchased this album purely on the strength of the audio clips available from the Amazon site (which should give some idea of what a strong impression such a brief listen made) and while that set my taste buds tingling, what a pleasant surprise the album has been. Songs with intelligent lyrics, well played and Sheila has a good if slightly quirky voice. And importantly on repeated listening the album improves, with the songs 'Breath' and 'Love Song' really standing out.But the real bonus is the sound quality and I nearly gave the album 5 stars on that basis alone. With so few albums being released as DVD audio discs it came as a real and very nice surprise to discover that this album comes not just with a 5.1 surround track but also with the DTS ES 6.1 track. I'm a great believer in the use-able version of DVD Audio;(that is discs that can be played of standard DVD players as opposed to those which can only be played on specialist DVD Audio players) and this album just pushes the envelope a bit further with the DTS ES sound track and it shows just how good this medium can get. Albeit you do need a room full of speakers, so that you can be surrounded by surround sound!

1st Brief Stropで見せつけた才能がここでも遺憾なく発揮されている。今作ではインストロメンタルがかなりフィーチャーされているがそれでも彼女独特のヴォーカルにはさしさわりがない。Brief StropとこのWakeだけで、これからもずっと彼女の作品を追いかけていくというわけが成立してしまう。

だいぶ前、地元の電気屋さんのＤＶＤ売場で彼女の「FAITH」のプロモを初めて拝見しました。映画などのいろんな画像が入っていた、デモ用のサンプルＤＶＤの中に入っていたのですが、一番釘づけになりました。黄金色の心臓（？）が刺さった矢を引っこ抜いて葉っぱで傷口をケアするシーラ。印象に残ってます。その矢の山が痛々しかったり・・・。でも、彼女の音楽も、プロモの画像も、優しさが溢れていて、すごく素敵で癒されました。