Nesbitt’s songs deserve to be heard in an arena
Nina Nesbitt
JJJJ
“I've loved country music since I heard Taylor Swift in the back of the Balerno music class when I was 15,” said Nina Nesbitt, before a beautifully-performed offthe-mic version of her song Heirlooms, with three-part harmonies from support acts Lonelytwin and Katelyn Tarver.
Nesbitt’s admiration for Swift’s music is already well-known, but hearing her mentioned onstage at this hometown gig threw the comparison into sharp relief.
The Liquid Room is perhaps a more intimate concert venue than Swift is used to playing.
But it was full for Nesbitt’s visit, and she enjoyed the same kind of commanding intimacy with her crowd – particularly the female majority in the audience – that her hero enjoys in huge arenas.
Nesbitt’s songwriting is both precise and relatable to the experience of that being a young woman, and educational for any
one else; for example, the sense of manipulation and naivety that she blends in Older Guys, about dating a university student as a 16-year-old.
There was a nice touch, too, where she played the piano ballad Last December – about a boyfriend she split from then reunited with – then segued into Colours of You, a sequel about their ongoing relationship.
Late in the set her style shifted into a sleek, synthesised pop, with songs like Chewing Gum and Cry Dancing more reminiscent
of Robyn than Taylor Swift.
That shouldn’t have come as a surprise, however, given that Nesbitt’s new album Älskar references her Swedish heritage (it means “loves”) and that her 80-year-old Swedish grandmother had her own dedicated song here, Dinner Table.
The Liquid Room’s surroundings may have been intimate, but the style, melodies and emotional precision of Nesbitt’s songs deserve to be heard in their own arenas.