Review Summary: An uninspired debut from the young singer songwriter Nina Nesbitt.
Lorde has opened the door in many ways for young artists to create something that can be commercial and still retain a creativeness. Nina Nesbitt does not follow Lorde on such a creative path.
The 19 year old Nina Nesbitt's debut
Peroxide is the type of album that sounds like it was made in some lab where songs and lyrics are created with the sole intention of selling records.The production is slick but it is nothing that has not been heard before and done better. The opening track and title track of the same name "Peroxide" is a paint it by numbers song and is pleasant but with lyrics that are uninspired. "Stay Out " follows the same path which sounds like a patchwork of Mumford and Sons and Ed Sheeran. The chorus is a catchy one but it's the same chorus I think I have heard a thousand times over.
The current single "Selfie" based on the self absorbed nature of taking a picture of yourself and posting it on social media. The piano intro riff sounds slightly like "Two Weeks" by
Grizzly Bear. This is the only real part that has a flicker of interest, as the song is so bland, redundant and lyrically weak. It can be said it is easy to put down the songs on the album, but it all seems very forced.
Lyrics like " Your quite fit but I'm under no illusion your a dick" is what one would expect from someone a little younger then 19 years of age. "Mr C" like all the songs is well produced and pleasing but like most the songs they don't do anything special. Listening to the tracks it can get confusing which track is track as they all have similar melodies and instrumentation.
Things pick up with "Tough Luck" a song that does have a heart and a chorus that would fit nicely on a
Taylor Swift album. The chorus is catchy and gives Nina her best vocals on the album. "Hold On" a song with
Kodaline also features delicate piano and vocals. It might be the best track on the album and musically is where Nesbitt's talents are best executed. Things go back to the same bland sound on "We'll Be Back For More" but the album does end on a better note with "The Hardest Part". An acoustic mellow track features some lovely vocals from Nesbitt and with all the production stripped away the song works.
Peroxide isn't trying to make a musical statement and that's ok but the songs overall are so safe with melodies that are forgettable you never get wrapped in the record.
