Nerina Pallot stunned fans and critics alike when she announced on her website that she would release a 5-track EP the last week of every month during 2014. Twelve EPs and twelve months later, she fulfilled her part of the bargain and followed it up with the release of her new album, “The Sound & The Fury."

"The Sound And The Fury" is visceral and multi-layered, combining different genres in an effortless flow. Yet, all represent the rich and varied DNA of Pallot’s music.

Pallot started writing songs for the album around the time of Margaret Thatcher’s death. Her closing track, “The Longest Memory,” essentializes the album’s mood and controversial time when the “Iron Lady” was British Prime Minister.

Pallot’s lyrics such as, “They’re burning down the streets, take the burden to the streets, “ overpower melancholic melodies in a good way. They reference the working class, who engaged in acts of violence and took to the streets during the Thatcher years, protesting the privatization of major corporations across the UK at the expense of small businesses.

“What was the legacy she left us? Were we so twisted by hatred of her that we had taken to stamping on graves?” questions Pallot of Thacher in the album’s liner notes. The song continues, “Now that she’s gone do you think we’re all free? […] Tears are rolling are down, they’re still rolling down,” to serve as a reminder that the struggle persists.

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An air of confusion and grief dominates the song, almost like a funeral, which befits the track’s theme. The gloomy production is a perfect reflection of that ambience. The lines “You don’t know night, you don’t know day, you don’t know why you feel this way, and I do somehow” sum up these emotions.

Although it is a recurring theme in the new album, especially in songs such as, “Ain’t Got Anything Left,” “Handle,” and “Big White House,” there is more than just melancholy in “The Sound & The Fury.” The album is an all-around representation of Pallot’s music. “If I never make another record, this is the one I am happiest to leave behind,” she wrote in her newsletter. As a singer-songwriter who has had to fight to remain true to her artistry, the album represents a great sense of achievement.

Since her debut in 2001, the singer-songwriter has gone from struggling musician to accomplished artist. She was about to give up on what would become her day job, when she received a call from Polydor Records, which resulted in the album “Dear Frustrated Superstar.” Later, she found herself dabbling through various record labels and independent releases, before finally opting to release the new record on her own label, Idaho Records. The album is a combination of reworked tracks from her 2014 EPs, with more radio-friendly production, and 3 new songs.

“The Sound & The Fury” starts on a dramatic note with opening track “There Is A Drum,” one of the new songs in the collection. It is a marriage of dance and folk music, a combination that has been attempted by many artists before, but at the risk of establishing a forced, commercial sound. Pallot, however, does it organically by not letting the production overshadow her talent as a songwriter and storyteller.

Her craft as a storyteller is the subject of the album’s lead single, “Rousseau.” The song draws parallels to the French philosopher and the French painter, both of whom share the name of Rousseau. Pallot reflects on her own songwriting, and the parallels it shares with poetry, with lyrics such as “Rousseau is following me […], following me down to the letters.” At its essence, it was, according to her, an attempt to write a song that sums up life experiences, as did her idol Joni Mitchell, who herself was inspired by the painter Rousseau.

Social activism is yet another function that Pallot channels in her songs. “If I Had A Girl” is feminism at its most relevant, with the artist sharing some of her thoughts on sexism in a fictional conversation with an imaginary daughter. “You’ll work the livelong day to take home half the pay,” she sings, before launching a tirade against the injustices of being a working woman in a male-dominated society. As a woman in a sexist music industry, Pallot has most definitely paid her dues.

After the commercial success of her second album, “Fires,” Pallot could have easily become the next big pop star, like P!nk or Shakira. She initially released “Fires” independently in 2005, after Polydor dropped her. She had even taken a mortgage on her house to finance the LP. Seeing the potential that the album presented, Warner struck a distribution deal with her in 2006 and released a more commercial version of the album with a few radio remixes. After lead single “Everybody’s Gone To War” became a 2006 summer hit, she was shipped to the US to work with producer Linda Perry, who was the driving force behind P!nk’s massive 2001 success "Missundaztood," in the hope that she would become a record label puppet.

Eventually, she decided to return to her native UK and not make use of any of the songs written during the sessions with Perry, as she felt those did not represent her as an artist. After releasing her third album “The Graduate” independently in 2009, Geffen Records approached her in 2010 in the wake of the commercial success of artists like Duffy and Adele. With the help of the label, Pallot enlisted the help of then-producer du jour Bernard Butler, who had actually worked with Duffy. It seems Geffen may have hoped to market her in somewhat the same vein. The result was 2011’s "The Year of the Wolf," which performed modestly, rendering Pallot one of the most underrated singers-songwriters of her generation. Fair game to her for not caving in to commercialism, as she is quite unique in what she does.

When she debuted buzz single “The Road” (track 9 on “The Sound & The Fury”) and its accompanying video to announce the new album back in July, she said that “making videos is an opportunity to focus attention on important issues and that when certain issues become news, often the humanity is overlooked and people end up reduced to being problems to be solved.” What she was referring to was yet another social and political issue, and that was the rising refugee crisis in Europe, which was gaining momentum at the time but had not yet reached its peak. The video was shot in Calais, which is a main point of entry for migrants who cross the English Channel in an attempt to seek refuge in the UK.

“You don’t follow, no you walk this road alone,” the chorus keeps repeating as the video features a group of refugees talking about their ordeal. The beat was created by her husband-producer Andy Chatterley and was heavily influenced by Indian Bhangra music, which is fitting considering Pallot’s heritage. Her mother herself is an immigrant who travelled to the UK from India in the 1960s. “You just keep your eyes on the prize, you keep your eyes on the prize,” chants Pallot angrily against the majestic Bhangra dance beats, creating a unique anthem for people who risk their lives in search of a better livelihood.

All in all, "The Sound & The Fury" is a solid, consistent, reflective, and somewhat experimental record that extends Pallot’s tenure in a music industry that overlooks talent for the sake of profit. With only 3 new songs, however, the downside is the underwhelming amount of new material. Therefore, for casual fans who are not familiar with the 12 EPs she released last year, this album is sure to be a delight to listen to, but for hardcore fans who know her material inside out, it leaves a lot to be desired. Perhaps another EP is in order.

Buy the album here. 

Reach Contributor Walid El-Atrache here.