English singer-songwriter SCOUT NIBLETT has been crafting minimal and deeply moving tunes since the early oughts. Originally from Nottingham, Scout soon moved to the States, where she found she could succeed as an alternative musician without ‘selling things’ as a function of the industry. And we’re so happy to have her. Scout’s music can be characterized by its stark, bare bones instrumentation – her recordings typically consist of little more than her rough, dynamic voice and crisp drums and guitar. Dramatic, swelling tempo changes charge her compositions with an emotional intensity that bleeds into her intimate live performances.

‘Gun,’ the first single off her 6th studio album ‘It’s Up to Emma,’ (Drag City)encapsulates the multiple dimensions of her singular style. Leading with a twee chime, the song quickly plunges into a growling mean mood, with a robust grunge-ified guitar that compliments Scout’s biting refrain about a cheating lover. The song builds from a slow burn anger into an explosive, snarling pounce, the guitar motif expanding with the energy of pounding drums. The visual accompaniment – a friendly excursion into a carnival as Snow White – adds an endearing contrast to the boiling resentment of the song and demonstrates the friendly modesty that bleeds into her songs.

Catch her tonight with Dope Body, Residual Echoes and local snarlers Bugs & Rats in Cambridge TONIGHT at the Camb. Elks Lodge.