Having spent the best part of 16 years on her father’s hand-built 40 ft boat during her childhood, Heather Nova relied heavily on her imagination. Music soon became an integral outlet for this imagination and Nova soon learned to play the guitar and violin before penning her own songs. At 16 the family moved to the U.S. and Nova enrolled at the Rhode Island School of Performing Arts studying visual arts, which she would accompany with her music. After a brief time in New York City, Nova moved the London, England and released her debut EP “Heather Frith” in 1990. In an attempt to catch the attention of fans and labels, Heather Frith became Heather Nova, and she released her second EP “Spirit In You” in 1993.
The success of the EPs led Nova to meet producer Felix Tod, who produced the singer’s critically acclaimed debut full-length “Glow Stars” in 1993. The live album “Blow” followed in October 1993 after which Nova embarked on a tour of west Europe. Gaining in momentum and confidence, Heather Nova subsequently signed with Stephen Abbot’s Big Cat Records who became infatuated by the singer’s pure and candid approach to songwriting. With label backing, Nova made her international debut with the album “Oyster” in 1994. The dark, sexy and unrefined album earned a host of positive reviews and spawned the European hit single “Walk This World”. The next two years were spent non-stop travelling and playing shows across Europe, before the live album “Live From The Milky Way” was issued in 1995.
The singer’s subsequent album “Siren” was released in 1998 peaking at No. 55 on the UK Albums Chart. Led by the single “London Rain” Nova supported the release by joining Sarah McLachlan et al. on the North American Lilith Fair tour and her own headlining world tour. The full-length “South” arrived in 2001 to more positive reviews, cementing her position at the core of the millennium’s indie rock scene. Recorded in her native Bermuda the album topped the UK Albums chart led by the No. 1 single “The Virus of the Mind”. After collaborating with the Swedish pop band Eskobar on the single “Someone New” in 2002, Nova released her fifth folk/pop album “Storm” in 2003.
Soon after the birth of her first child, Heather Nova released the studio album “Redbird” in 2005 led by the single “Welcome” featuring Danny Campbell and Dido. The solar powered acoustic album “The Jasmine Flower” appeared in 2008, followed by the full-band album “300 Days At Sea” in 2011.
Spending your childhood sailing around the Caribbean on a boat isn’t the usual start for up and coming songer-songwrtiers, but Heather Nova certainly made this a possible childhood on the way to success. After writing music as a child, and then composing tracks for her film projects at College, it became evident that Nova’s skills and passion lay in music, and that’s where she let her path lead her.
Heather’s voice is magical, delicate, yet powerful, and the chance to hear her play live was something that I had been desperate to experience for years. Nothing could have prepared me for the extreme talent that she possesses. Her song London Rain was sang with so much nostalgia of her time living in England’s capital, that a hush of appreciation fell over the entire audience beautifully. Heather took all of her songs, old and new, and performed them to a standard even higher than that on the recordings. She opened the show with the hit Everything Changes, which won the audience over immediately, as she altered the style of the chorus, which in my opinion, was even better than the original.
She played a couple of songs not on any of her albums, and it was great to hear new material before it’s even released! I can’t wait for her next album, and really hope a tour comes of the back of it. Even if you don’t know her music, but fancy something of this genre, you should definitely check her out. I promise you’ll be a fan after the first song!
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