BY CHERYL CHENG
Kate Nash
My Best Friend is You
Polydor/Fiction

When Kate Nash first appeared on the music scene, she was a cute, Regina Spektor-like presence who sang songs about heartbreak and first loves. The cover of her debut album, Made of Bricks, features her walking toward a cartoon-like cottage in a swingy red dress; she was adorable with a capital A. Fast-forward three years later, and Kate has changed her tune somewhat. For her sophomore effort, My Best Friend Is You, she has become slightly more serious. Produced by Suede's Bernard Butler, the album features such surprising tracks as "I Love You More," which has Kate howling and screaming, and probably even more shocking, "Mansion House," in which she quasi raps a list of what ails her. Taking on such issues as sexual inequality, Kate clearly has a message—and one that involves more than her love life.