Nerina Pallot

Nerina Natasha Georgina Pallot (born 26 April 1974) is a British singer, songwriter and producer, who has released seven albums and over a dozen EPs.

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.

The album was eventually re-issued several years later after her second album, Fires had become a commercial success.

Her then-manager Richard Ogden noted that his company spent "three years managing her while she had a huge record deal and was a massive priority for Polydor. We did the best job we possibly could, but it just didn't happen".

In 2003 she sang lead vocals on the track "Truly" on Delerium's album Chimera, which was also released as a single in the UK.

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.

The album was produced and mixed by Howard Willing together with producers Eric Rosse who produced "Learning to Breathe" and "Heart Attack" (co-produced by Willing) and Wendy Melvoin who produced "Damascus".

After the initial tracks were finished the rest of the record was apparently completed by Willing and Pallot flying files back and forth from London to Los Angeles.

The album was preceded by a download-only single, "Everybody's Gone to War".

A second single from the record, "Damascus" was released in June 2005, and a third, "All Good People" (a Radio 2 single of the week) was released in September 2005.

She performed at the 2005 Guildfest music festival and headlined her own show at Bush Hall in Shepherd's Bush, London later that year.

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, on 24 April 2006, earning Pallot a chart success by reaching Number 21.

With over 100,000 sales it was certified gold in the UK.

The first single from the revamped album was "Everybody's Gone to War", which was playlisted on most major British radio stations.

The single became the third most played song on British radio the week before its release, and reached Number 14 in the UK Singles Chart.

She undertook her first full headlining tour in support of the Fires album in May 2006.

During the year she also played headline shows in London at ICA, the Bloomsbury Theatre, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre and at Shepherd's Bush Empire.

The second single from the album was "Sophia", a re-recorded version, created in LA along with producer Mitchell Froom, entered the UK singles chart at Number 32.

She was nominated for British Female Solo Artist at the 2007 BRIT Awards and nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for "Sophia" in the category of 'Best Song (musically and lyrically)' in the same year.

Besides her own material, Pallot has written songs for Kylie Minogue and Diana Vickers.

She mostly tours around the UK and is married to record producer Andy Chatterley.

Pallot was born in London and brought up in Jersey by a half-French father and a mother from Prayag, 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.

In April 2007, the song was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award, while she toured around the UK and Ireland in January and February of that year.

The next single from the re-released version of Fires was "Learning to Breathe", which reached Number 70 in the UK singles chart.

Pallot worked with several big name co-writers in preparation for the follow-up to Fires, including Linda Perry (Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful") and Rob Davis (Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out of My Head").

She also wrote an album's worth of material with Rick Nowels (Madonna's "Power of Goodbye", Belinda Carlisle's "Heaven Is A Place on Earth").

However, she struggled with the co-writing process and in the end only self-written songs made the album.

The Graduate was released on 5 October 2009 in the UK and reached number 46 on the Official UK Albums Chart in its first week of release.

The standard version of the album features 10 original tracks, whereas the iTunes version contains three additional tracks, and the deluxe version contains seven acoustic versions of the tracks.

The album polarised critics, with some lauding it as her best album yet and others seeing her change of direction from Fires as a mistake.

Having had no intention of releasing Fires 2, Pallot has defended the need for a progression between the two records.

She toured the UK in October 2009, including a performance at Glasgow's Oran Mor venue on Wednesday 7 October, showcasing songs from the new album The Graduate.