OUT TODAY: NATALIE SCHLABS’ NEW LP
DON’T LOOK TOO CLOSE
Rare is the album in which each song contained therein constitutes must-listen material, but with Don’t Look Too Close, Schlabs pulls off the feat, imbuing each of its nine standout compositions with a radiant glow, refreshing clarity and revelatory grace. - Albumism
Schlabs’ voice possesses an audible kindness to it that allows her to carry her performance with the calmness and sincerity necessary to portray a song crafted on the kind of love that overreaches any one type of relationship. - American Songwriter
Throughout the course of Don’t Look Too Close, Schlabs establishes her position as a link between the past and future, memory and imagination, child and parent. Her music plays with opposites throughout the project...Schlabs’ new project is, from start to finish, a meditation on the often surprising and seemingly self-contradictory counterparts of life’s biggest changes and challenges. - No Depression
Natalie Schlabs not only writes what she knows but conveys the meaning of an emotionally charged experience with such tender-hearted expression that it's so easy to fall in love with her songs - PopMatters
Delicate harmonies and swaying effects feel like a fresh breeze blowing through a field of flowers - Ones To Watch
Lyrical sincerity with gorgeous melodies...Natalie Schlabs delivers gilded, Americana-infused sweetness in a song that feels immediately timeless" - Atwood Magazine
If your life feels like an endless struggle right now...Natalie Schlabs has a message of hope for you. - Audiofemme
Natalie has kept herself busy this year, and we are all reaping the benefits - Underground Music Collective
Brings to mind the timeless and melodic pop of the ’70s (plus some crisp Rilo Kiley-esque guitar hooks) with sweet lyrics about someone coming into your life” - Spectral Nights
Mellow, yet upbeat, and it fills the heart and mind with thoughts and feelings about those that you hold dear. - The Indy Review
Nashville-based, Texas-bred singer/songwriter Natalie Schlabs has released her new album Don’t Look Too Close. The songs, written while Schlabs was pregnant with her first child, sparked much introspection and reflection, and allowed her to process her fears about motherhood. Each of the album’s nine shimmering tracks live in the tension between the beauty and heartbreak surrounding our closest relationships.
“‘Don’t Look Too Close’ capitalizes on the duality of the past and the future,” No Depression said of the album’s opener and title track. “In the same breath as she reflects on the struggles she didn’t see her parents having as a kid, Schlabs thinks ahead to her own child’s life, hoping he won’t notice the things that are difficult for her.” In it, Schlabs confronts the inevitability of making mistakes, a cycle that seems nearly impossible to avoid. The song’s accompanying video is about being able to take an honest look at who we really are - the good and the bad. Change can come simply from that awareness. “That Early Love, which PopMatters called “a song made for these desperate times,” celebrates the beauty of enduring love while “Go Outside,” which Ones To Watch called “the perfect indie soundtrack to a summer afternoon,” encourages us to put down our screens and enjoy the beauty us. Schlabs provides encouragement in “See What I See,” giving hope to others who are struggling, and lead single “Home Is You,” the accompanying video of which features fellow artists and friends like Robby Hecht, the members of Oliver the Crow, Betsy Phillips, and gospel/soul powerhouse Liz Vice, celebrates finding your “person.” Bringing the album full-circle is album closer “Ophelia,” written for a friend who lost her daughter, “reaches into the most extreme dichotomy there is, that of life and death,” commented No Depression.
Don’t Look Too Close, co-produced by Juan Solorzano and Zachary Dyke, allowed Schlabs to step into indie territory with a compelling mix of instrumentation laced with solo vocals that bloom into easy, delicate harmonies. While her lyrics and arrangements are poignant and compelling, the true magic is in the timbre of Schlabs’ crystalline vocals. “There’s something about the way her voice rises and falls, like the crest of the wave in an ocean of slide guitars and strings,“ said Rockmommy, and added that Schlabs radiates “serious Stevie Nicks vibes.” “Even the most cursory of listens to the inspired assemblage of songs that comprise Don’t Look Too Close validates that she deserves all of the plaudits sure to come her way,” said Albumism. “And if there’s any justice in this world, her career trajectory will surely find her scaling even loftier heights in the years to come.”
DON’T LOOK TOO CLOSE TRACK LIST:
THAT EARLY LOVE
DON’T LOOK TOO CLOSE
EYE OF THE STORM
SEE WHAT I SEE
GO OUTSIDE
ENDLESS LOVE
HOME IS YOU
SEE IN THE DARK
OPHELIA
CONNECT WITH NATALIE SCHLABS:
Website || Facebook || Twitter || Instagram || Spotify || YouTube || Bandcamp