I am floored that Nicole Atkins did not join the ranks of Feist, St. Vincent, Stars, and several others that blossomed in the mid-aughts. Her music drips with glowing pop gold, throwing ridiculously alluring hooks all over the album. Neptune City opens with “Maybe Tonight,” a crooner that yearns for someone to fulfill Nicole’s pleas, sung a in hearty alto with a twinkling xylophone accompanying a quickly strummed acoustic.
Track 2, “Together We’re Both Alone” explores the comfort of enjoying solitude with another person, a difficult but rewarding feat in Atkin’s words: We’ll sit up upon the bed for awhile, Together we are both alone but we don’t mind, We’ll dream of something to try and make it alright,” before exploding with violins and brass.
Each song carries a distinctive jazz touch, an clear influence of Atkins throughout the record. The back half is loaded with wonderful songs including the Title Track, Neptune City a slow burner that cascades into a wash of shimmering sounds while Nicole fantasizes about either a fictional city in the sea or maybe a place that can only be a memory now “I’m sitting over Neptune City, I used to love it, used ot be pretty, I’ll come down walk around a while, Till I’m sure that I can never go home again.” Following this is perhaps her most recognizable song, “Brooklyn’s on Fire!” Opening with bombast Nicole paints an alluring picture of Brooklyn “Ohhh Brooklyn’s on fire, And Fills July Hearts with Desire, Sleep will not come until the morn, cause tonight your memories are born.” The bridge breaks down into a cacophony of violins and background voices shouting “Fourth of! July! Brookyln’s! On Fire!,” before ceding back to Nicole’s voice and rapidly played piano hovering in the background.
I included Bleeding Diamonds EP almost exclusively for the opening track, “Skywriter” a mellow sounding song that tries to find solace and reason after a breakup: “I’m out watching the skywriters finding futures for the people below.” Her cadence and falsetto voice really carry the chorus, as it strive to ease the hurt, but unsure if it’s able. Nicole Atkins has released several collaborative and solo EP’s, along with a lovely full-length in 2011 Mondo Amore. Her debut music really caught me and I think it is a great starting point for her music.
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