Nashville Exile sound like they should have been brought up in the American heartlands, but in reality the five-piece are based in London.
By Graeme Smith
They certainly had me fooled with the lush, romantic modern Americana and alt-country on display across their debut album, Hand Drawn. The album draws together a string of US-based influences, including Jefferson Airplane on light and airy opener Collide. The band’s shared vocal approach is reminiscent of Rilo Kiley’s earlier albums, while closer to home I detected hints of Elvis Costello’s brand of rock.
From Collide, lead single The Alchemist takes things in a sultry yet wistful direction with a steady rhythm and searching vocals. It’s an early highlight. Told You So is rockier, and this is where the vocals first change up. They inject some extra passion in a gritty yet lofty number.
Themes of death, perseverance and rebirth loom large across the album’s eleven tracks. Flowers & Suicide is gently devastating through its stirring lyrics playing out against a stripped-back backdrop. Change is infused with a vintage warmth and soul. Its anthemic message of bending to life’s toughness makes it another highlight.
Sing Our Song is energetic and makes clever use of a fade-out in its outro, while Dance Like A Mother F*cker has the irresistible groove the title demands. It’s a beautiful palate cleanser for all the heaviness. It tees up the album’s closing duo of the wistful Almost Gone and the plucked and the intimate Lights Down well.
“Hand Drawn is the culmination of our musical careers to this point,” explains vocalist/guitarist and producer Matthew Crozer. “We’ve lived our whole lives as musicians – touring, writing, recording, learning the craft for decades – before we came together as a band, and we’ve known each other a long time. We wanted to carry that musical torch from the artists we love like Tom Petty, The Rolling Stones and John Prine and keep that rawness and heart and spirit alive with our own songs.”
Nashville Exile’s craftsmanship and experience are on full display across the album, so much so that it doesn’t feel like a debut. They are a band who knows what works, from songwriting, to composition, to performance.
If you want to keep up to date with all they’re doing, you can by following them on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
Hand Drawn is out now, and you can listen to it below.