Guest post by Colin Ho (II)
New Jersey born singer-songwriter Nicole Atkins has a beautiful voice that is deep, husky and slightly operatic. I could make all sorts of comparisons to Nina Simone mixed with Roy Orbinson, but it’s a bit pointless really because all you need to know about Nicole Atkins is that she’s wonderful and fantastic and everything. What also I love is how she describes her sound as “pop noir.”
So what makes her so wonderful?
Well, first off, she writes and sings amazing songs that have sweeping, anthemic choruses which build and climax. Her melodies dip and turn over a bedrock of jangling guitars, strings, dark drums and brooding basslines. Upon these layer of sounds, you’ll notice that there’s a touch of David Lynch in the strange “monsters-under-your-bed” sounds of quivering, discordant strings, the echoes of childrens voices, the bone dry, icy glockenspiel and growling, fuzzed out guitar.
It’s the sound of nostalgia and memories lost, of wood and peeling paint, of heartbreak and of love. There’s an almost theatrical and cathartic quality to her music, and it comes as a great credit to her and her band, The Sea (not to be confused with Jen Cloher’s Endless Sea).
Her music conjures images of wandering around amusement parks at night, watching as an incandescent ferris wheel slowly turns and the cars tilting back and forward above the seaside skyline. Like a vignette, the reality and memory that she’s singing about… it’s like a dream, but then there’s something so bright, vivid and tragic about her stories of burning cities, celebrations and love even though the edges are all fading away.
Picking one song would be like just picking one chapter or a character from a novel, so I’ve decided to pick a few to try and illustrate the scope and the narratives in her debut album because Neptune City which is easily one of the best pop albums of this decade.
But seriously, listen to it! Don’t take my word for it, let it play and immerse yourself in the textures and layers and feelings of Nicole Atkins’ “pop noir”. Perfect for some reminiscing before we hit 2010.
Nicole Atkins – ‘Maybe Tonight’
Nicole Atkins – ‘The Way It Is’
Start your (Nicole) Atkins diet here.
1 Comment:
I agree completely! I think Nicole Atkins is a major talent and will eventually get the widespread recognition she truly deserves. She writes great songs! I had the pleasure of seeing her recently when she was opening some dates for the Avett Brothers. She is the real thing, not some studio contrivance. I suppose the Roy Orbison comparison is apt, especially given those “operatic” moments in her delivery, but the first time I heard her I was reminded of some sort of combination of Dusty Springfield and Petula Clark. Weird, huh? I’m convinced she could do a much better cover of “I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself” than the White Stripes did.
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