Nina Nastasia

Nina Nastasia’s follow-up to 2001’s eccentrically compelling The Blackened Air is a ghostly Gothic spectre, all creaking strings and moody set pieces to make your skin prickle. Her last record was all visceral blood and guts; Run to Ruin is a shadow, only occasionally evoking anything more provocative than a bump in the night. While Dirty Three drummer Jim White handles duties behind the kit, violinist Dylan Willemsa evokes D3’s front-man Warren Ellis. But while that Australian trio is all about the bombastic emotional tirade, Nastasia is seemingly without anything to get too worked up about. It may be sad but it’s not the gory mess of her last album, and that’s a distinct disappointment.