Nina Ettridge - Touch (Single Review)
Nina Ettridge's debut single Touch is an unapologetic and extremely strong debut, with flares of operatic drama and a whole lot of punk spirit
Unapologetic, dramatic and a strong personality are usually indicators that what you are seeing is a confident and wildly entertaining performer. This was certainly not what I was expecting when going into this track and I was very pleasantly surprised. With this being Nina Ettridge's debut single I am thoroughly impressed at her release presenting an essence of rock 'n' roll with flares of operatic drama and a whole lot of punk spirit.
Everyone defines punk differently (honestly, look at any of the contested debates in the punk rock groups on Facebook) but I've always found peace with the fact that the punk ethic - for me - is an artist standing up with what they believe in and at least attempting to expand some boundaries along the way; always with passion and an outspoken desire to defend the oppressed. I'm not here to argue with anyone about what punk is, that debate could fill up books, as it is so wildly contested within the scene and outside the scene. I'm here to talk about Nina Ettridge's new single; Touch.
I mention punk because I feel it is impossible to separate this piece of music and its politics. Maybe some more passive listeners can rock out to its anthemic quality without a desire to think with any sort of depth about the message Nina is presenting. I can't do this, but I see it notable to mention sonically it does sound absolutely great, in fact, I have little to no gripes about the production quality - it's thick, spacious, and dynamic in all the right quantities.
Touch, if you couldn't guess by the title and my preamble, is through and through an exploration of consent and lack thereof. Nina flutters between 1st person, 2nd person, and descriptive language, and although a little bit jarring I keep getting drawn to the image of the lyrics directly representing an impassioned conversation with a man who has overstepped their mark without consent to do so. The first chorus and verse are deeply sarcastic with the protagonist aggressively stating "touch me" repeatedly, this is further reiterated by the repetition of "that's what we like" in regards to "put[ing] your hands on my behind" and "don't ask if I mind". That sarcasm however soon disappears as the song continues with the chorus transforming into stating "don't touch me". The approach now becomes really specific and heavy-handed with little room for misinterpretation, lyrics like "being alone in public shouldn't be problematic" and "it's your body, your rules, you know what you've got to do/you've got to turn and scream/don't touch me". The stand out lyric presented by Nina for me is as follows "Is there a sign on my forehead that says 'feel me up'?". The rhetorics used perfectly fulfilling the emotion of frustration and resentment about the persistence of being made to feel uncomfortable.
In the future, if Nina desires to show more of the dramatic flare she has presented here, I hope she delves into it with even more theatrics and takes some notes from bands like My Wonderful Daze and Patti Smith. All in all, although I personally prefer lyrics with a little more nuance and poetic awareness than what Nina has delivered, I appreciate the impassioned anthemic quality it's driven by and its further commitment to gender neutrality in terms of its politics on consent. Reminiscent of No Doubt's Just a Girl with grunge undertones and moreover, inspiration from Transvision Vamp, The Pretty Reckless, and maybe a hint of the Riot Grrrl movement I can see it really striking a chord with some people. Overall, it's an unapologetic and extremely strong debut which is hopefully foreshadowing an interesting career and frontwomen entering into the pantheon of female rock musicians.
4/5
For fans of: My Wonderful Daze, Anteros, LUCIA, The Pretty Reckless, and No Doubt
Listen to the full song on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/track/0F12jkYjUJyafVK6rQz4Rc?si=pgEyFi7tTBKIY6_ya8zk4A
Check Nina out on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ninaettridgemusic/
- Written by Joshua Ingham.