Mountain Music

Having risen to fame at a young age with her disarming, candid pop, the Scottish musician is now found in an entirely new realm. It is inspired in part by the two years she spent touring the States in support of her second studio album: the critically acclaimed Top 40, “The Sun Will Come Up, The Seasons Will Change,” which has now accrued over a billion streams. These songs are permeated with gorgeous nods to US folk and Americana. It’s made all the more extraordinary by the fact that, not long ago, Nesbitt was considering quitting music altogether.

Produced by Peter Miles and Nesbitt, mixed and mastered by Miles at his stunning studio Middle Farm in south Devon, and released via her own label, Apple Tree Records. A playful nod to her 2012 debut EP, “The Apple Tree,” this marks the start of an exciting new era for Nina Nesbitt. While it might sound strange that Nesbitt was drawn to the music of Appalachia, heard echoing through the vast, verdant mountain ranges of the eastern United States, it makes more sense when you consider how traditional Scottish ballads and hymns are threads in that rich tapestry.

Empathy is one of Nesbitt’s greatest strengths. We hear it on “Painkiller,” a Joni Mitchell-indebted ballad on which her heart breaks for the men who believe they have to suppress their own feelings. One of the album’s standout qualities is, perhaps, the dynamic that Nesbitt creates from one song to the next. Where many folk artists might lean into quiet introspection, she craves the full spectrum of emotion – so ensconced around “Painkiller” you have the tender “On the Run,” with its distant shivers of percussion and crystalline piano, but also “Anger.” She’s in a nostalgic mood on the rousing “Coming Home,” a Springsteen-inspired, driving-with-the-top-down journey back to the places and people she loves.

We all lose ourselves sometimes. The trick is learning how to find our way back, pushing those clouds away to see the blue skies beyond. For artist Nina Nesbitt, hard-hitting truths and revelations take precedent on her remarkable, career-best album, “Mountain Music.” Nesbitt knows exactly who she is, and now, she’s ready to tell the world.