Bunch Of Fives: Nadedja

Photo by Michael Sreenan

After a rather successful year that saw her awarded the esteemed Help Musicians’ Do It Differently Fund alongside being selected for Sage Gateshead’s Summer Studio residency, alt-pop artist Nadedja drops her new single, Bittersweet Move. This latest offering will be part of her upcoming EP, Transient, and, like with previous singles Unfold and Sand, sees the solo artist partnered with Newcastle-based producer and topline writer HATi.

The track discusses heartbreak, solitude and strength through vulnerability and features a flawlessly soulful vocal from Nadedja that transcends over a soundscape of tender keys,  contemporary beats and lo-fi synth sounds, as well as some lush harmonies that bring the track to a satisfying end.

Here, Nadedja tells us about her top five sad bops…

There’s nothing in this world I love more than a song you can simultaneously dance and cry along to. It took me a good while to select these, but to be honest, I probably had way more fun than I should have, or maybe not – we all love a good sad bop, don’t we?

Lorde – Supercut

This song for me is the definition of a sad bop! The pace, the rhythm, the intense lyrics telling the story of a freshly wounded kind of heartbreak. I can almost see the movie: a girl going out with her girlfriends, having way too many drinks, flashing lights, euphoria, dancing her pain away. We’ve all been there before! Love it!

Robyn – Dancing On My Own

How conflicted do you have to be to choose to see it for yourself: to sit in the corner watching the person you love kiss someone else? I mean that’s heavy sh*t. But what a banger! This one is a classic.

Avril Lavigne – I’m with You

I owe it to my teenage self to add this song here. The twelve-year old me literally wanted to be Avril Lavigne. I would wear dark makeup, my dad’s old ties and some baggy jeans; I’d put her CDs on my stereo and scream every single one of her tracks at the top of my lungs. ‘I’m with You’ remains one of my favourites to this day. I’m an angsty teen again every time I hear it.

Norah Jones – Happy Pills

This is a darker, snarkier and more mature sad bop. Who knew that Norah Jones could write a full-on savage record about a breakup?! I was going through a rocky patch myself when she released this, so many late nights listening to ‘Happy Pills’- it hits me right in the feels.

Sara Bareilles – Manhattan

This song makes you feel like you’re right there with Sara. You can hear the emptiness in the room, her lonely keys and pure heartache. It’s undeniably sad, but unbelievably beautiful. Very few songwriters are able to bring out so many deep feelings in me, like Sara Bareilles does so effortlessly. She’s just a genius and this song is everything.