English Indie Rocker Scout Niblett Makes a Name for Herself-- Literally
By Andrew Clayman
Published in The Metro Pulse, October 2007
When Emma Louise Niblett rechristened herself “Scout,” she wasn’t just paying tribute to her favorite character from To Kill a Mockingbird, she was identifying with a kindred soul—albeit a fictional one.
Stuck on a tour bus in the midst of Denver traffic, the 34 year-old, English-born Niblett talks about music, unity, and America with the sort of childlike detachment and idealism that would make Gregory Peck smile. Even her heartfelt effort to explain the meaning behind one of her new songs ends up sounding as much like a quote from Jean Louise “Scout” Finch as Emma Louise “Scout” Niblett.
“In some ways, it’s a song to myself,” Niblett says, referring to the sparse but powerful “Baby Emma,” off her new album, This Fool Can Die Now. “But also, I was trying to express this feeling that I had, that even if people feel lonely or alone, that perspective is a delusion really. You’re not really alone. There are people around you and a world around you that are just as much a part of you as what you think you are.” There’s a pause. “Yeah.”
You can almost hear her namesake adding, “There’s just one kind of folks, Jem. Folks!”
The strangest thing about Scout Niblett’s wide-eyed words, aside from their genuineness, is the way in which they clash with the notoriously wild, grungy, wig-wearing rock chick persona she’s been known to inhabit on stage. Across seven years and four acclaimed albums, she has stuck to her guns as a predominantly minimalist, raw, and emotive singer/songwriter, alternately cooing and shrieking over little more than a thumping drum beat or a Cobain-esque guitar lick. Her past two, Steve Albini-produced records drew plenty of the familiar comparisons to obvious touchstones PJ Harvey and Cat Power, but on This Fool Can Die Now, Niblett is joined by the artist who might, in fact, be her most closely related contemporary—Will Oldham, aka Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy.
“I just asked Will if he’d like to do some songs with me last year, and he said yes, so it’s quite simple really,” Niblett says with a laugh.
“It was really easy and quite refreshing, because we didn’t really rehearse before we went into the studio. (Will) just came in and we basically just recorded songs with Steve (Albini) in one or two takes. Nothing was really labored or worked on that much. It was just a really nice surprise that it worked that well, considering that we hadn’t rehearsed or anything. It was amazing.”
As perfectly matched as Niblett and Oldham sound on the lo-fi opening track “Do You Wanna Be Buried With My People,” they find even greater heights on the six minute “Kiss,” a dramatic, string-laden desert ballad that ranks among the best efforts from either artist.
While Oldham only appears on four tracks, This Fool doesn’t suffer in his absence. Along with standouts like “Baby Emma” and the highly amusing “Dinosaur Egg,” Niblett even tosses in a couple peculiar covers—Van Morrison’s “Comfort You” and “River of No Return,” made famous by Marilyn Monroe.
“I just kind of fell in love with those songs and found that I was singing them a lot by myself in the house,” Niblett says. “I think, lyrically, I felt I identified with them quite a lot in the last year.”
Scout doesn’t elaborate on this much, nor does she elaborate on much of anything, aside from her transported patriotism for America, the country she has always identified the most with and now calls home (more specifically, Portland, Oregon).
“I’ve been attracted to America since I was very young,” she says. “I still feel the same way. I don’t really know why—well, I do know why, I think, but that’s another story I’d have to go off on for a while.” There’s a bit of laughter and a brief silence. “I just find it a lot more liberating, psychologically, as a country, and a lot less restricting than Europe in general. I think it’s mainly because it doesn’t have as much history. It’s kind of like a newborn. It doesn’t have that weight of history on it.”
Though happily living in the Land of the Free, Niblett still finds herself dealing with the daily comparisons and misconceptions that her brand of music and obvious eccentricities have always elicited.
“I don’t know. I’ve noticed that people, depending on their tastes, will pick up on different aspects of what I do. Some people can see the whole picture, but I think some people dwell on that kind of (limiting) dialogue.” Yet another pause and a loud screeching sound in the background. “Sorry, we’re in traffic, and we nearly just crashed.”
Scout shakes it off with a laugh, like her namesake—ever brave.
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