Kate Nash

Kate Nash's debut LP, Made of Bricks, was released last summer in the U.K., where she became an overnight sensation; both the CD and single, "Foundations," charted at number one. The 20-year-old from a London suburb pals around with Lily Allen, with whom she's frequently compared. Yet unlike Alright, Still (Allen's debut), Made of Bricks jumps genres as though it has multiple-personality disorder. The electroclash throwaway "Play" leads off the album, ahead of whimsical sing-along "Mouthwash" and the epic, almost-gothic "Mariella." But no matter. Nash is a phenomenal talent who seems able to imagine riffs as easily as she snaps her fingers. She's also got a gift for pointed human observations that don't slow her narratives. "Thursday night, everything's fine, except you've got that look in your eye when I'm telling a story and you find it boring," begins "Foundations." Though she talks tough like Allen — "I wish that you were more intelligent so you could see that what you are doing is so shitty to me," she says on "Dickhead" — her lines ultimately betray more vulnerability and immaturity than those of her countrywoman. But that's not a bad thing. One looks forward to the development of her art as she gets older.