Nicole Atkins (born October 1, 1978) is a Singer-Songwriter and occasional producer from Neptune City, New Jersey. Her music typically runs the gamut of alternative/indie rock, baroque pop, country, folk, and darker dance pop. Musically, she has been compared to singers like Roy Orbison and Kate Bush due to her often confessional lyrics about loss, heartache, and personal demons.
She released her first album Neptune City with backing band The Black Sea in 2007 to very positive reviews from critics but comparably slim commercial success. This was due in no small part to her at-the-time label Columbia Records seriously underpromoting the album. In addition to being more-or-less screwed over by her label, the pressures of touring took a massive toll on her emotional health. The result was the Darker and Edgier Mondo Amore in 2011. An album which, aside from its bonus track "Oh Canada", largely ditched the poppy veneer of its predecessor in favor of a more haunting singer/songwriter style with occasional experiments in punk/rockabilly and country.
She more-or-less continued with this style on 2014's Slow Phaser, while incorporating influences from Disco and even Gospel Music. However, 2017's follow-up Goodnight, Rhonda Lee saw her move away from the Indie Rock stylings of the first three records (per the suggestion of none other than Chris Isaak), in favor of a more intimate folk-rock styling, heavily inspired by her struggles with alcoholism and depression. Her latest release, 2020's Italian Ice, was a straight-up alternative rock album with notable country influences.
Discography:
- 2007 - Neptune City
- 2011 - Mondo Amore
- 2014 - Slow Phaser
- 2017 - Goodnight, Rhonda Lee
- 2020 - Italian Ice
Tropes Associated With Nicole Atkins:
- Attending Your Own Funeral: The song "Neptune City" is about a ghost attending his own funeral and looking back at what the titular city is now compared to what it was when he was alive.
- Break-Up Song: "Kill The Headlights" and "You Were The Devil."
- Destructive Romance: Both "Together We Are Both Alone" and "The Way It Is" are about settling for unfulfilling (the former song) or outright toxic (the latter song) romantic relationships.
- Darker and Edgier: Both Mondo Amore and Goodnight, Rhonda Lee
- Drowning My Sorrows: At least a third of Goodnight, Rhonda Lee is about this. With "Colors" and "A Night Of Serious Drinking" being the most obvious examples.
- Hangover Sensitivity: "The Worst Hangover" is about a really bad hangover, as the title suggests.
- Sarcastic Title: "Girl, You Look Amazing" might sound like a positive/affectionate song from its title, but it's actually a song about unwanted sexual advances at a bar. With said phrase being uttered in a very unflattering manner by a random bar patron.
- Small Town Boredom: "Cool Enough" is about this.
- Truck Driver's Gear Change: Occasonally:
- "Never Going Home Again" starts in the key of D-major but shifts up to Eb-major after its bridge.
- "You Were The Devil" starts in A-minor but shifts up to B-minor for its final verse and outro.
- War Is Hell: She has a song with this title, and it's precisely about that.
