Let": Natalie Flanagan
A Review by L.A. Joe
SOUNDCHECK MAGAZINE
September, 2003

Natalie plays acoustic guitar and sings and wrote eight of the nine songs on this CD. She lists Lou Reed, Bob Dylan and Joan Armatrading as some of her influences. Her seven piece band has a great, loose, bluesy feel to it on songs like "Patience" with its medium tempo, honky-tonk piano bits and guitars dancing around her superb vocal delivery. The next song gets smmoth on us with its processed electric guitars and sombre organ pad. Its called "Come In Tokyo" and again, a distinctive vocal performance and sweet lyrics. Some of the songs sound like mainstream radio pop. I'm putting "Margot's Arms" in that category; its ready to go and loaded up with stuff that grabs you by the collar and shouts "Pay Attention, we've got a solid new artist here". Nice job y'all.
"Let": Natalie Flanagan
A Review by Anna Maria Stjarnell
COLLECTED SOUNDS: A GUIDE TO WOMEN IN MUSIC

Natalie Flanagan has a gritty, honest way of writing songs and they sound just fine. Her voice has an appealing rasp to it and she plays the guitar with real feeling. The rocker "That's the Way" is a duet with Dennis Roach who also wrote the song. His voice fits well with hers. "Patience" is close in sound to Lou Reed's early material. The song's energy doesn't stop it from being pretty laidback. The evocative "Long live the King" has gently strummed guitars and a reflective vocal. "In This Way" is a brilliant breakup song. Natalie Flanagan"s delivery is not bitter, but just slighly resigned. The tune is very catchy too. The closer "Water Under the Bridge" is sad-eyed and lovely with a gorgeous feel to it. Flanagan sounds like a daughter to Patti Smith here. "Let" is a brief album but there's enough good songs to make it a real treat to hear.

WOMANROCK.COM: Review 7/2003 :
NATALIE FLANAGAN
LET
Label: ONE WAY PRODUCTIONS
Format: CD

Natalie Flanagan entertains with intimate, personally delivered songs on the simply titled "Let",One Way Productions http://www.onewayproductions.com. Her AAA path is fringed with the rambling roses of country rock for an unornamented for rooted style, plain and direct.

Flanagan:
"Let"
One Way Productions
Format Reviewed: CD
Soundclip: "Patience"

Never mind expressions about old dogs and new tricks; Boston's Natalie Flanagan didn't even start playing 'til her late twenties. "Let" literally sounds like years spent working odd jobs, drinking pints in the evenings and going home to write in a journal. Flanagan's low-pitched speak-singing style has drawn comparisons to Bob Dylan and Lou Reed and her music is firmly rooted in the intelligent, bluesy folk of that era, but David Minehan's production is what really makes it come alive; Let remains intimate whether Flanagan plays stripped-down or in full-band mode. "Grace Under Pressure" is based on little more than a rhythmically-strummed acoustic guitar and a shaker, with subdued electric noodling and rough, breathy vocals on top. It's spare but ample, and Flanagan sounds like she's in the room with you... or rather, like you're in the room with her, breathing cigarette smoke and the smell of old beer, but without the shitty sound system. Later in the album the music fills out quite a bit, with pianos, organs and a prominent backup band; "Patience" features plonky piano sharing space with blues-rock guitar, chugging along underneath Flanagan's smoky "Maybe tonight you could just keep me company".

"Tracks from Nats CD'S
"Sexy Singers"
"Let" and
"5 Star Day"

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The lyrics drift between first- and third-person, narrative and personal, blending storytelling with emotion. They can be wrenching, as in "Long Live the King" ("I can't sit around and watch you go south / With no one to hold my hand at the cemetery"), or wry ("You tell me I'd feel better / If I could tidy up this joint / Then I look around me / I think, what could be your point?" from "In This Way"). Flanagan's singing adjusts to her subject matter, sounding choked up when the words are at their most melancholy, steady when she's offering strength. The only track that doesn't quite go with the rest is "That's the Way", written and partially sung by guitarist Dennis Roach. Roach's rather anxious vocals clash with Flanagan's languid breathiness, and the song seems overly simplistic next to the others.

But every album needs a barroom sing-along, and Let is definitely drinkin' music -- not the insipid folk/blues I admit I expected from the CD cover and title. It lays bare the rawest of feelings in a polished way, without diluting the songs' power. Between her genuine, well-written songs and having good help in the control booth, Natalie Flanagan has made a quietly great album.
-- Sarah Zachrich