Out now
The healing qualities of music are immense, but even then life’s challenges can sometimes remain at the forefront, unable to be tempered or soothed by the wonders of verse.
Multi-lingual singer/songwriter Nur NH started her musical journey in 1996, finding success with her EP Real Story in 2011. It seemed the Gods were shining on Nur NH as she found herself signed to a label and enjoying the warmth that comes with imminent success, but then, suddenly, she vanished from our lives and ears, only to emerge a decade later with a harrowing reveal of the domestic violence situation she found herself in.
She has chosen to vent her feelings and explain her absence the best way she knows how, by music, with the recent release of the EP Unbroken.
It promises to be a moving collection of tunes, and I have found myself having to wait for the right time to sit down to review.
Opening with I’m Done With You, Nur’s beautifully calming voice emerges from the speakers amidst a stuttering static that presumably signals a rebirth of sorts.
This track seems to tell the moment when Nur found the strength to fight back and escape her pain, emphatically telling her abuser that she has had enough and yearns for a better life.
A life which she deserves.
The angst and struggle in her voice make this a powerful statement, enhanced by a tasty guitar solo mid-way through and heavier breakdown hinting at her moment of triumph.
The Dark Is Like A Fire casually drifts to life next, with a soft underbelly that evokes hope and defiance.
This is a much slower and more deliberate tune, with the tender sounds of piano adding warmth and longing. It almost sounds hesitant in parts, as though Nur is challenging herself to find courage and purge her pain. More beautiful guitars punctuate the calm and sweep you off into a higher plane, indicating a sense to rise above the troubles and find solace in peace. It’s pretty cool how music can do this to a person.
Un Vero Amore is up next, and I have no idea what that even means.
But it must be something soothing, as light piano strokes introduce the song, weaving a sonic path of deliverance bordering on operatic.
Nur somehow manages to maintain the feelings of neglect and suffering, but there is also a growing sense of confidence that is creeping in. Confidence in her ability to take her life back and leave the past where it belongs.
Behind.
This track meanders along for a good three minutes before the confidence turns into defiance and Nur attacks her craft with renewed vigour and purpose. Her placement of guitar throughout this EP is the definite highlight, offering opposing moments of clarity and confusion, where there is no winner.
Only freedom.
You get the feeling Nur is trying to make a point with the final track, Goodbye Ciao Ciao. I count three goodbyes there, and I usually only have to be told once!
This has a more up-tempo feel to it with an almost Spanish-style beat that throws a blanket of contentment over things, promising a brighter future with fresh hope.
Even her vocals have found a colourful positivity and yep, wicked guitars rear their sensational head once more, this time with an air of buoyancy that reciprocates the journey from despair to hope.
I’m sure Nur NH still has many steps left on her journey of finding herself once more, but with the cathartic nature of these four tracks and the emotional journey travelled by both Nur and her audience thus far, the future must certainly seem brighter.
