Scout Niblett - I Am
2025-02-12
Scout Niblett, especially her early stuff, is a lot of energy and heart packed into a relatively small frame. And a surprisingly large amount of it on I Am is delivered only by drums and song, like Your Beat Kicks Back Like Death (which was also covered by Jens Lekman) a strangely reassuring and also heart wrenching song about the inevitability of death, the short and explosive Texas, or the hopeful and uplifting cheerleader chant It’s All For You. Scout’s voice bounces between grungy vocal fry and completely uninhibited, piercing, top-of-the-lungs, almost primal belting, and given the mostly simple accompaniment, her voice becomes a primary feature on the album. I Am is not devoid of tonal instruments though. Scout can handle a guitar and she wears her grunge inspiration on her sleeves (and in her sound—the album is produced by Steve Albini who also produced In Utero for Nirvana) which becomes very apparent on I’ll Be A Prince (Shhh) and Drummer Boy.
I Am is one of my favorite albums of all time. It is all Scout Niblett and there is nothing like it. It is a well-rounded, tasteful and coherent album, despite the seemingly confusing set of ingredients.
Listen
- Your Beat Kicks Back Like Death: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I0VsYpX0M4
- I’ll Be A Prince (Shhh): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHj-8bMgu_Y