NADENE PITA – TURNING ARROWS INTO FLOWERS

Nadene Pita is a rare bird – a creature seemingly free of artistic hesitation and a blissfully unusual composer, she possesses a plaintive and free-flowing alto which catches the ear immediately. This is her first full-length record and it is a strange and pretty one – for those interested in the freak-folk revival, you would do well to recognize shades of the godmother of experimental folk Linda Perhacs – particularly in the wildly dispersed instrumentation and distinctly earthen vocal stylings. Pita’s direct and un-showy lyrics work to her advantage too – the songs have a childlike innocence about them (particularly apparent with a very special guest vocalist in Ferris Wheel) whilst daring to musically mess things up just enough to keep the listener on edge. She has some pretty luminous guests here – including piano wizard Chris Abrahams and drummer Hamish Stuart – and their warped genius is most apparent in the weird and funky Red Shoes, while strings, pianos and percussion sprinkle like acid rain in Revolution. This is quality, challenging stuff which deftly avoids pigeon-holing opportunities, and really is quite a poignant expose on the character of this enigmatic Sydney singer.