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Natalie Prass On World Cafe

As the saying goes, "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar." So it is for Natalie Prass on her new album, The Future and the Past.

A few years ago, the singer and songwriter had an entire album of material ready to record — but the 2016 election left her "devastated," in her words, so she scrapped what she had been working on to write new songs that reflected the world around her. Those new songs aren't embittered or in-your-face or even downtempo. Rather than taking on an acid tongue, she digs into the sweeter possibilities — that tough times can make people stick together, stand up and be counted and even dance.

The Future and the Past is Natalie Prass' follow-up to her 2015 solo debut, which got rave reviews. She made the new record with producer and long-time friend Matthew E. White at Spacebomb Studios in Richmond, Va. The creativity of her chord progressions and melody lines is just exceptional and precise — as is her live performance. Listen in the player above.

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Talia Schlanger hosts World Cafe, which is distributed by NPR and produced by WXPN, the public radio service of the University of Pennsylvania. She got her start in broadcasting at the CBC, Canada's national public broadcaster. She hosted CBC Radio 2 Weekend Mornings on radio and was the on-camera host for two seasons of the television series CBC Music: Backstage, as well as several prime-time music TV specials for CBC, including the Quietest Concert Ever: On Fundy's Ocean Floor. Schlanger also guest hosted various flagship shows on CBC Radio One, including As It Happens, Day 6 and Because News. Schlanger also won a Canadian Screen Award as a producer for CBC Music Presents: The Beetle Roadtrip Sessions, a cross-country rock 'n' roll road trip.