Nicole Atkins – Italian Ice (Single Lock
Records)
Release Date: Out Now
You have to respect the stones on
anyone who is able to pull together musicians from different backgrounds to
guest on their album with pedigrees including the Bad Seeds, Midlake and the
Dap-Kings but that doesn’t mean you have to like their music. Except in this
case, when the stones in question belong to Nicole Atkins and the album in
question is ‘Italian Ice’. Opening with ‘AM Gold’, Atkins slides effortlessly
on to our audio stage and lets the slow soul lift us gently out of our doldrums
while her timeless vocal gives you some insight as to what you can expect. ‘Mind
Eraser’ takes a harder funk edge with tight rhythm section while ‘Domino’ just oozes
70s cool from the streets of New York down to Miami with Atkins’ breathless
voice taking centre stage.
The classic sound that Nicole
Atkins has created is masterful in its quality but also in its ability to draw
you in from whatever you’re doing or wherever your mind is. The swell into the
chorus of ‘Forever’, for instance, could easily be Fleetwood Mac in their hey
day with intimate vocals dancing atop deceptively simple arrangements. ‘Captain’
takes some lap steel and a sense of romance for a ride around the ranch before ‘Never
Going Home Again’ perfectly exemplifies Atkins’ ability to orchestra a rabble
in to something gorgeous which documents a real ‘change in direction’ life moment.
‘St Dymphna’ is apparently the patron saint of the mentally ill and those who
suffer from neurological disorders and this woozy, bluesy plea of a song is
perfectly pitched for some at the end of her tether, her wits and with no roads
left to turn down. The country twang of ‘Far From Home’, however, is a far more
traditional affair but that almost clipped guitar twang in the background
carries the kind of sinister overtones as 50s songs about socially acceptable
date rape.
As this superb album enters the home
straight, ‘A Road to Nowhere’ rears up with an organ bed giving this track a power
that speaks of defiance, escape, release and taking back control. ‘These Old
Roses’ is a delightful and luscious arrangement that would have had Phil Spector
swooning with the coquettish vocals mixing with strings, lap steel and drums
that could herald an army. The album closes on ‘In the Splinters’ which is
played on the only piano that survived the Alamo and sung with the living
spirit of Dolly Parton being channelled through Atkins’ already impressive
vocals. This album is an absolute triumph of confidence, confession and the
ability to segue from one style to another without ever seeming out of place or
out of time.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/NicoleAtkinsOfficial/