Born in London on 26 April 1974, Nerina Pallot was brought up in Jersey by a half-French father and a mother from Allahabad, India, together with her sister. Pallot played piano as a child and wrote her first song aged 13. She has identified seeing singer and pianist Kate Bush perform her hit song This Woman’s Work on television series Wogan as a catalyst for her to pursue a music career. She attended Jersey College for Girls and received a music scholarship for Wellington College.
Pallot released her debut album, ‘Dear Frustrated Superstar’, on Polydor records in August 2001. This spawned two singles, ‘Patience’ and ‘Alien’. She was subsequently dropped from the label mainly due to failing sales.
Her second album, ‘Fires’, was released in April 2005 on her own independent label, Idaho. It was published by Chrysalis Music Publishing, to whom she remained signed and provided her with a development deal. They initially provided her with £50,000 to make the album. When that proved insufficient for Pallot’s needs, she remortgaged her house to complete the rest of the album. At the end of 2005, Pallot signed with 14th Floor Records (a Warner label), who re-issued the album after adding strings on some tracks in April 2006, earning Pallot a chart success by reaching Number 21. With over 100,000 sales it was certified gold in the UK. Profiting from this success, Polydor reissued her debut album.
Pallot worked with several big name co-writers in preparation for the follow-up to ‘Fires’, including Linda Perry and Rob Davis. She also wrote an album’s worth of material with Rick Nowels. However, she struggled with the co-writing process and in the end only self-written songs made the album. ‘The Graduate’ was released in October 2009 in the UK.
In July 2010, Pallot returned to Geffen Records and to the A&R that first signed her to Polydor while embarking on an eight-day tour around the UK and Ireland. A year later, she released the album ‘Year Of The Wolf’, inspired by the birth of her son, Wolfgang.
For her next project, Pallot decided to release an EP every month in 2014, as she ‘just got sick of the album, tour, single… that whole cycle’. The EP ‘Live From Union Chapel’, released on 30 November 2014, featured her version of Moments Of Pleasure.
Pallot released a new album called ‘Stay Lucky’ in 2017. She reprised the entire track listing of that album on ‘Live From RAK 31/8/17’, recorded live at RAK Studios in London.
References
- Nerina Pallot. Wikipedia, retrieved 25 September 2018.