Natalie Walker 'Urban Angel' album

Born and raised in Indiana to a religious, sheltering family, vocalist and songwriter NATALIE WALKER is an artist whose lilting, melodic voice and lyrical reveries reflect a life journey of determination and self-discovery. With musical influences ranging from Alison Krauss to Portishead, Jewel to Lauryn Hill, Beth Orton to Bjork, the former lead singer of downtempo electronic group Daughter Darling now delivers her own unique, haunting sonic landscape that is at once organic, ethereal, elegant and entrancing on her solo album debut Urban Angel (Dorado Records). “Creating music is my outlet,” says Natalie. “I was born to sing. When I don’t, I feel empty. When I do, I feel fulfilled. It’s that simple.”

Urban Angel was co-written by Natalie and two-man production team Stuhr. “I worked with two really great producers out of Brooklyn, Dan Chen (Moonraker) and Nate Greenberg They’d send me the rough copy of a song and the music would just evoke emotion,” she explains. “Its like fitting pieces of a puzzle together. When you’re in the studio recording it’s all very raw and real. I try to make a song new each time I sing it. I want it to be unforgettable. My producers are amazing. They forced me to develop my real voice. I’ve improved my vibrato and my tone. Stuhr delivered exactly what I asked of them. It couldn’t have happened more perfectly.”

Natalie On...

Discovery: “Growing up in a Born Again Christian family was a positive experience. My parents are great, but they were very strict. School, on the other hand, wasn’t a positive experience. I struggled. I knew from the very beginning that I was different. Going to school, college, getting a job didn’t click. But I knew I loved to sing. I started singing as soon as I could talk, but kept it a secret. I was really shy. Nobody, not even my parents, knew I could sing. When I was 13 years old, I sang at a banquette in front of 300 people. They were floored. Suddenly everyone knew: Natalie Walker can sing.”

Determination: Natalie formed her first funk-folk band when she was 17. Then she left Indiana for Kentucky. “I went to a Christian college in a little town with 900 people, 500 of which were students at the school. When I was 18, I started to question my beliefs. I needed reinforcement, or some kind of education about what I was raised to believe.” Natalie spent a year and a half at college before deciding religion and school were not her calling. “I would go to the little chapel on the campus. It had a beautiful grand piano, so I would sneak into the auditorium and sit at the piano and sing for hours. I would sing the same song over and over again. Finally, I decided I’d seen what I need to see there and it was time to move forward.”

Natalie over...
Journey: Natalie met Travis Fogelman of Daughter Darling through an online ad seeking a singer. She responded, and within a few days, they sent her a sample to record. “I sent it back to Travis and his brother Steve and they said, ‘You have to move here now!’ But it wasn’t that easy for me. I was in school. I was making decent grades for the first time in my life. I decided to tour with a worship band (a “Christ in Youth” group) over the summer instead. I had some things to sort out. In the end, I’m glad I went on that tour because it was confirmation that I needed to push further and do something completely remarkable and different.” She finally moved to Philadelphia in February of 2002. Daughter Darling with Natalie as their front woman released Sweet Shadows in July of 2003. The album continued to gain momentum for over two years. “We planned a second release, but the producers of Daughter Darling and myself had grown apart. After careful consideration, I decided that it would be in my best interest to go solo. It was a difficult choice, but following my gut has been one of the best decisions I've ever made. I hope Travis and Steve continue to produce music, because they are both brilliant.”

Influences: “I am thankful that I was raised in a sheltered environment. I wasn’t exposed to a lot pop music when I was young. I listened to religious or country music, but I was a blank slate. I remember the first time I heard Portishead. I freaked out. I fell in love with Beth Gibbons’ voice. It was strange and different. That was sort of the beginning of the down-tempo, trip-hop vibe for me,” Natalie reminisces. “Then I was introduced to great singers like Beth Orton and a group called Over the Rhine. The lead singer, Karin Bergquist, has this incredibly earthy voice.” Female artists like Alison Krauss, Ani Difranco, Bjork, Erin McKeown, Jewel, Lauryn Hill, and even Garbage have also guided her.

Natalie: “I’m really sensitive, but also goofy. I’m caring and creative. I wonder why people are the way they are. I question a lot. But I’m always thinking about what I can do to make other people comfortable.” Indeed, comfort is key to this artist. “I don’t want to look like someone that I’m not. I don’t want to glamorize my image. Yet I don’t want to give the impression that I’m this conservative, religious girl either. People watch you like a hawk. It’s silly.”

Urban Angel: “This album happened so naturally. The music all melds together. It’s chill and non-intrusive, the perfect mellow music at an intimate gathering. Or you can sit back, put your headphones on and really get lost in it,” Natalie suggests. “Urban Angel definitely exudes sensuality, and sexuality, and a little bit of heartache. I really tap into it live. I’m really excited to perform the new material. It’s a true representation of who I am. Urban Angel is a great album. I love it and I’m really proud.”

biography
Urban Angel is the remarkable solo debut from Philadelphia-based singer Natalie Walker. At 25, Walker is already a veteran of the music business. As a former member of the electronic group Daughter Darling, her voice was front and center on their popular 2003 album Sweet Shadows. On Urban Angel, working with producers Nate Greenberg and Dan Chen (aka Stuhr), Walker has taken her music to the next level. All Music Guide describes the album as “funky and elegant at the same time” while Philadelphia magazine calls it “a stirring, sexy record that’s filler free.” The disc has been embraced by influential California radio station KCRW and reached number-two on the iTunes electronic chart. Indeed, with its combination of lush, modern soundscapes and more traditional song structure, Urban Angel can be savored by fans of conventional singer-songwriter fare and electronic music alike.

Natalie Walker’s journey began in small-town Indiana. Her diverse musical influences include artists like Portishead, Garbage and Bjork. But Walker’s tastes also extend to alt-rock bands like The Deftones as well as to hip-hop. “I’m a sucker for a really good, old-school hip-hop beat,” she admits. When she was only 20, Walker packed her bags and moved to Philadelphia to work with Travis and Steve Fogelman as Daughter Darling. These days, the self-declared “Philly Lilly” still calls the city of brotherly love home. “I love how diverse Philly is,” she says. “Philadelphia has amazing restaurants, wonderful music venues and wonderful talent – but it’s not a sensory overload. I feel like I belong here.”

Since Urban Angel’s release, Walker has stayed busy and garnered lots of attention in the process. The album’s first single, “No One Else,” was featured on the popular HBO series Entourage while the Thievery Corporation remix of its second single, “Quicksand,” appeared in a trailer for the film Marie Antoinette. Walker has been written up in publications ranging from The New York Press and The Philadelphia Weekly to Vogue and Beyond Race. She has also played many high-profile venues throughout the country, including L.A.’s Temple Bar and Joe’s Pub in New York City.

Urban Angel has been available in the US since the fall of 2006 both as an import (on UK-based Dorado Records) and via iTunes. But on August 28th, it will finally get a full domestic release on Universal/Fontana. In addition to the 12 songs featured on the original album, the new domestic version of Urban Angel will include a pair of bonus tracks: the popular Thievery Corporation remix of “Quicksand” and the slinky new single “Crush,” which debuted at an impressive number-seven on KCRW’s airplay chart. If you’ve never heard Natalie Walker, there is no better time than now.

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Natalie Walker - Urban Angel