SINGLE REVIEW: NICOLE ALLAN - PUT 'EM UP
- 16 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Here at #TEAMw21, we are extremely excited to be bringing a number of non UK artists to the UK for the very first time however we are equally excited to seeing some UK folk that we have yet to see live. Very high on that list is Nicole Allan and if you want to know why then look no further than her latest single "Put 'Em Up".
From the opening strum of a guitar and the shimmer of cymbals there is only one sound dominating this song and it is Nicole. She announces herself with a fearsome introductory "Whooooooooooaaaaaaaah! - it's hard to find enough letters to convey the force and volume of this opening few seconds!
The song then turns into an upbeat Western pastiche, there's a fast paced drum beating, a guitar powering out that all important Western riff. All of it is immediately forgotten once Nicole appears, with a voice so carrying so much power and authority you are compelled to sit and listen
"There's a demon inside my soul
There's a longing I can't control
My hearts got a hunger, that's pulling me under
As I walk this road alone
There's a fight almost every day
I guess a version of me I hate
But I realise, the future that's mine, to take"
Despite the vocal confidence the lyrics point to someone not quite as certain - someone battling themselves - an internal boxing match that will be addressed in the chorus.
There's a little section that ends almost phoned in "Ding Ding goes the bell" finishing with a boxing bell being rung and if things were fairly lively until then, they are about to go stratospheric
The chorus gallops off at a hundred miles an hour with Nicole still in the saddle
"Put em up , put em up, put em up taking my baby
You ought to no better, cos Mama didn't raise no fool
Put em up , put em up, put em up taking my baby
Stay there on your feet and hit them like you just can't lose
Till the bell rings time on you"
"The crowd keeps calling my name
Every hit feels like a freight train
Time to survive, keep me alive
and nobody can take my place"
There's a high powered jangly guitar solo driving things further forward over which Nicole adds some additional vocals.
It is the next chorus where Nicole accompanies herself on backing vocals, that takes things to yet another level
It is only in the final few notes that the foot finally comes off the accelerator pedal and that is only because Nicole is massive extending the last "On you" out over many syllables.
If a tenth of this power hits the stage at Country Calling then people are going to be amazed, if Nicole goes full Chernobyl, then quite possibly be prepared for one of the moments of the whole weekend - one thing is for sure - #TEAMw21 will be there to see it.
Nicole Allan will be at Country Calling Chelmsford Aug 14th - 16th
