Nathan Ball - 'All or Nothing'
London/Cornwall-based singer-songwriter Nathan Ball releases exhilarating track ‘All or Nothing’, out now via AWAL.
With its breezy rhythms and rich, full textures, Nathan Ball has brought out the perfect tune to add a little bit of warmth and comfort to your cold winter evenings. Recorded at Bush Studios in Cornwall and produced by Max Radford, there’s a lot of contemporary familiarity to ‘All or Nothing’ as it pulls from influences such as Ben Howard in its rousing vocal melody and lyricism, with a touch of War on Drugs as the track navigates away from its folky undertones and instead embraces a fuller indie rock sound with subtle psych nuances.
Thematically, ‘All or Nothing’ comes from an exhausted, post-tour moment in time when Nathan Ball was feeling a little bit lost. explores the internal conflict of trying to stay focussed while feeling the pressure of other peoples expectations, “It’s all or nothing for a while… I hear your voices screaming make me proud, just make me proud.”. But instead of being able to open up, the narrator becomes withdrawn, “I just sit in silence looking down… I’ll be alright”. Therefore, these moments of self doubt, the fear of disappointing anyone and the underlying melancholy of the song are contrasted beautifully with the uptempo, guitar and percussive-led arrangements. The anthemic feeling to the chorus also offers to rationalise and reassure as the song becomes relatable to the moments of hesitation the listener may have endured in their own lives. And with that comes hope.
For me, Nathan is at his best when he’s stripped back. I absolutely adore his ‘Acoustic’ EP which he released this year. But one of my favourite sounds in the world is sparse, narrative-led songs which are raw and deeply emotional. However, what’s great about Nathan Ball is how these core elements that I enjoy so much are not lost in his fuller sound. ‘All or Nothing’ brings a fresh dose of depth, emotion and elation to the contemporary indie rock meets indie folk genres and that’s why this song is worth shouting about.
Words of Karla Harris
Nathan Ball UK Headline Tour Dates
Dec 2nd Secret Location London
Dec 3rd The Jacaranda Liverpool
Dec 4th The Attic Glasgow
Dec 5th Hare & Hounds Birmingham