Single Review: Nina Winder-Lind – This is Our Life (Transgressive)

★★★☆☆ (3.5)

Nina Winder-Lind, the Brighton-based Swedish musician famous for being the cellist, guitarist and vocalist of the New Eves, has released a single with Transgressive Records, the same company the New Eves are signed with. In true Wu-Tang style, the individual members of New Eves have begun peeling off, Ella Oona Russell as well as Winder-Lind, to release solo work, while still playing together with the band. That is the only thing they have in common with the Wu-Tang Clan, as far as I can tell. 

Winder-Lind, and New Eves in general, are often compared with Patti Smith, however ‘This is Our Life’ sounds more like Nico, of Velvet Underground fame, if she had a kid with Bob Dylan. So a Nico/Dylan lovechild. Dylan around the time of Blonde on Blonde, or maybe Freewheelin’. It’s slightly more upbeat than some of her other solo tracks, like ‘The Spirit is Carnal’; ‘This is Our Life’ is an ethereal evolution of the hagstone rock sound that made Winder-Smith and the New Eves Famous. 

Winder-Lind is slowly building her solo repertoire. ‘Little Sister’, Winder-Lind’s answer to Billy Idol, is well made and listenable, and pairs tastefully with ‘This is Our Life’.

An earlier track, ‘Almost in New York’, references Lou Reed, Winder-Lind stating she is sure she’s met him before. Particularly apt considering how much she sounds like Reed’s Greenwich Village opposite woman. Winder-Lind alone has aspects of Anne Briggs, Joni Mitchell, and Hazel O’Connor. There are traits of the lesser known Deep Tan too, if anyone remembers that small but powerful London-based group that seems to have disappeared into the bottomless void of procrastination. 

The new single, ‘This is Our Life’, plays a simple guitar chord throughout, and we hear Winder-Lind’s rasping voice build in momentum as the song develops, before reaching its crescendo. The verses come in waves, building and retreating, accompanied by the piano. It’s very on brand for Winder-Lind, if you like their other solo tracks, you will likely like this too. 

While the song is an impressive, professional contemporary folk song, the music video is somewhat lacking. Ultimately it comes across as a little amateurish. The zooming in of nick-nacks in the bedroom and scenes of Winder-Lind and co. frolicking on the beach looks more like a group of friends who went on holiday with a camcorder, and published the results. There’s nothing wrong with that especially, but it contrasts wildly to the exceptional video that accompanied ‘Rivers Run Red’. The ‘Rivers Run Red’ video could have been directed by Ken Russell. ‘This is Our Life’ could have been directed by someone’s younger sister. 

The New Eves as a group do not put out music often. The band have been around since 2021, with their debut single, ‘Original Sin’ coming out in 2023, and the full album only debuting last year.

This could be due to Winder-Lind, Russell and others taking time to produce their own music, although perhaps the reason behind their tortoise-pace is on account of their fantastic stage presence; somewhat surprising for a folk singing, experimental poetic rock band, the New Eves are known for being captivating live. Managing to distill a manic live performance onto a record is no easy feat, and bigger bands than the New Eves have fallen at that hurdle – even the Sex Pistols famously struggled to get their eclectic and electric presence off the stage and into living rooms.

I first saw Winder-Lind with the New Eves, as part of the star-studden ensemble that made up the Pogues 40th Anniversary of Red Roses For Me. In lieu of MacGowan, each song had a different front runner taking centre stage. These ranged from the more established performers to up and comers like the New Eves. Even amongst such musical royalty, the Bad Seeds, Lisa O’Neill, the Fontaines, the group made an explosive impression. 

The track came out on 28 April. There are rumours in the trees that more is coming. Whether that is another solo track, a full album, or more music from the New Eves, remains to be seen. Whatever form the new music takes, the New Eves and Nina Winder-Lind are one to watch. 

https://thesplice.co.uk/2026/05/04/single-review-nina-winder-lind-this-is-our-life/