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Nicole Atkins - Neptune City
| Rollingstones |
| Nicole Atkins is the kind of New Jersey dreamer who thinks it's more romantic to fantasize about leaving a small town than to actually get the hell out of Dodge. And, damn, if she isn't convincing. Maybe that's because the noir-pop chanteuse knows firsthand what it's like to get out. Having left her native Neptune City in the Nineties, bound for North Carolina and later New York, Atkins pays tribute to the shore town she grew up in (just south of Asbury Park) with a homesickness that feels real because it's so conflicted. Draping her throaty voice over velvety surf-guitar ballads, orchestral studio pop and misty piano-bar melodies, sounding like a slightly more femme k.d. lang, she calls out the bridges, bars and ex-boyfriends she left behind, reassuring herself that "I'll come down/Walk around a while/Until I'm sure/I can never go home again." But it's telling that one of her best songs, the street-band vaudeville number "Brooklyn's on Fire," was written for her current home. Some Jersey nostalgia is born of knowing that you'll never have to live there again....full text |
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| Blogcritics |
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Nicole Atkins isn’t your typical singer. But when you find out that she’s from New Jersey, it makes so much more sense. She’s actually from Neptune City, New Jersey, hence the album title. Anyone who has ever listened to Bruce Springsteen can almost immediately recognize the similar Americana themes. Atkins grew up listening to The Boss, and it’s no wonder why her music is so rooted with New Jersey. “There was this glory time, way back when, that I never experienced, but that you cannot escape if you live there,” she says. That even despite starting her musical career singing in North Carolina and then in New York, she’s always reminded of her home state....full text |
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| Herohill |
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What else can I say about Nicole Atkins? After the success of her debut EP (Bleeding Diamonds), she made it clear that hers was a name we would hearing again and again and I've been waiting to hear more ever since. Her full length - Neptune City - is about to come out on Columbia records and it should push her into the spotlight. Instead of the lovely piano driven melodies, Nicole and the band really drift more into the rock side of the equation (Case in point: the gritty guitar work and reverb on Cool Enough or the 80's crunch of Love Surreal). It's a noticeable change (although expected when you hear Rick Rubin and Tore Johansson twisted some knobs on this one), but not one that alienates people who fell in love with the chamber pop arrangements she used so effortlessly. The reason? Well, despite the heavier feel and extra production she uses, all of the elements of the EP still shimmer. Her vocals are still the star of the show (I love how she mixes soul, country and blues so easily), and tracks like Together We're Both Alone still showcase the strings, horns and country tinges I loved from her previous work. She still uses slinky arrangements that float around corners like a cold breeze in an old house (The Way It Is), but she still uses her classic cabaret style....full text |
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