Posted on: April 4, 2012 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Nehedar’s (Emilia Cataldo’s) work on High Tide is hard to categorize. With so many styles, approaches, and sounds cultivated on the whole of High Tide, listeners will never truly know what to expect from the band. After listening to each of High Tide’s 14 tracks, the commonality that strikes me is one of honest and impactful compositions. Where a guitar line may seem out of place during the first few seconds of a track, Cataldo is able to place it into a context before the end of the track. To benefit fully from the titular track, for example, listeners will have to pay close attention.

I feel that High Tide is an album that exhibits a rare amount of cohesion throughout. While Unlove Song is tremendously touching and stands on its own, I feel that listeners can garner a greater appreciation for it after listening to Distracted and The Song No One Hears. High Tide is a unique album in that its emotional content expands beyond the lyrical content. The guitar on Eggshells illuminates that perfectly – the arrangements convey nicely the turmoil that Cataldo is going through.

High Tide ends with Count Down the Days; I feel that this speaks more to the potential of renewal both in terms of Cataldo’s life and in regards to subsequent recordings. Dig Deep follows this ideal nicely; it showcases the grit and determination that Cataldo has in attempting to power through to the ending of the disc. This is a female singer-songwriter that breaks free of the well-trod genre constraints, whom makes an album that will stand the test of time. Pick it up at Nehedar’s main site and see Cataldo and band play live whenever possible.

Top Tracks: The Interrogation, The Song No One Hears

Rating: 8.8/10

Nehedar – High Tide (CD) / 2012 Self / 14 Tracks / http://www.nehedar.com// http://www.facebook.com/nehedarmusic

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