An epic rainstorm raged outside as Nicole Atkins ducked into Washington, DC’s Som Records, dripping wet and apologetic for showing up late. But after all of thirty seconds, she shed her vintage cape, looked around, and started reminiscing about her previous visit to Som and the possibilities on the shelves that day.
It was the end of April, and the 35-year-old singer-songwriter was on tour promoting her newest studio album, February’s Slow Phaser. Later in the night, she would take the stage at DC’s Rock and Roll Hotel, but for now, she was content to roam the store, pulling out records that were familiar—rooting around for Peter Gabriel—and snagging a couple purely for their intrigue. The Nina Hagen LP she bought became the inspiration for her crazy-bold eyeliner later in the night.
Atkins was clear and concise when talking about the making of Slow Phaser. After moving from New York City back to Ocean Grove, New Jersey, close to where she grew up, she used the extra cash saved on rent to travel and visit friends in Los Angeles, Memphis, and the UK. Travel stoked her inspiration, which was also furthered through collaboration with Jim Sclavunos of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. She finished the record in Sweden, where she again worked with producer Tore Johannsson, who also produced the critically acclaimed Neptune City, her first full-length album.
During the making of Slow Phaser, Atkins lived in Sweden for a month and a half in the dead of winter, in a tiny town with no bars or young people and a dearth of English speakers. Her closest friend became a 70-year-old Greek woman who fed Atkins feta while they listened to Neptune City—perhaps not the most typical process for putting an album together. (But at least she was in Sweden where “the biggest scumbag at 7-11 will be hottest guy you’ve ever seen.”)
The album that emerged is full of disco beats, dance hits, and a poppy lightness that belies some of the heavier lyrics. It is also a significant change from the rock and folk sounds of her first two albums; it’s her most typically pop album to date. Perusing the bins of albums, Atkins gathered the records that inspired her album, categorizing them as prog-meets-disco, dark, and Jesus Christ Superstar. Looking at the eclectic collection surrounding her, she smirked, “When people say I’m all over the place, I don’t know what they’re talking about because this is a cohesive line up of influences.”
In hindsight, her inspiration wasn’t always as clear to her. It was only after she finished a song that she looked back and found the origin of each bass line, each disco note. It revealed itself slowly, “like a patchwork.”
This record pushed Atkins far beyond her comfort zone. When considering the choice for the first single, “Girl You Look Amazing” was the obvious decision because “it’s the one I didn’t want to put on the album at all.” It’s a catchy dance track that falls squarely into the pop category—it’s also insanely good.
The introduction of dance and disco into Slow Phaser wasn’t the only scary piece of the album. Atkins released it on her own brand-new record label, Oh’Mercy! Records. This move gave her the freedom to experiment and do exactly what she wanted, more so than at any time in the past.
Her debut album, Neptune City, was released on Columbia Records in 2007. Its songs serve as a retrospective of her life at 26 years old, all encompassing of her experiences to that point.
Four years later, she released Mondo Amore. It’s more discordant, angrier than either of her other albums, reflecting, as Atkins described it, “the most toxic relationship of my life and the fall out from it.” It was also a time of friction with Columbia, who wanted Mondo to be Atkins’s “Alanis Morissette moment.” But, Atkins refused, motivated by a thoughtfulness that is inherent in all of her interactions. While it might have been an unhappy relationship, she wanted to speak to it with grace and respect for what it was. Instead of sticking with Columbia, Atkins followed her creative instincts and ended up on indie label Razor & Tie Music.
Slow Phaser is something of a different beast. It represents just the last two years in her life and tells an ever-relatable story of growth and wisdom gained only with growing older. Despite having her heart broken, she was able to keep perspective and avoid the drama of younger days. Similarly, she started to learn to “gravitate toward people who made me feel awesome” instead of those that made her feel insignificant.
Perhaps it’s that newfound community that gave Atkins the strength to take Slow Phaser out on her own. The album was funded in part through an incredibly successful Pledge Music Campaign, which speaks to the dedication of the fan base Atkins has cultivated over the past seven or so years.
But a new record label of her own and a small cadre of committed fans don’t mean things are easy for Atkins now.
While the label might give her artistic freedom, there are practical limitations, like the fact that she can’t afford to push out her second single right now. Fortuitously, her next gig, opening for Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, starts in July—right around the time her second single will be released. Atkins was the first one to recognize the opportunities that might come with broader exposure and the chance to play bigger venues.
Atkins has bigger dreams, too. For one, she is constantly curating her record label in her head. At the moment, she is mentoring a young band, The Glycerine Queens (think The Ronettes, but depressed), back in Asbury Park. Atkins proudly showed off their recent band photos, black and white shots of four young girls looking dreamy in an open field. But despite her faith in their music and the ease with which she’s nurturing the band members, signing them to her label is out of the realm of possibility—right now. She wants them to succeed, and that means finding a label that has the financial and human resources to support them.
While the Nick Cave tour will hopefully help in getting the word out about her second single, she hopes she can use her success to promote other people’s records too.
And then there are the little things, the unexpected things. Like when Atkins pulled out her phone and spent 20 minutes looking for a hotel in the DC area cheap enough for her band to crash that night. Her main support on tour seemed to be her new husband, who happily set up their merch table and ensured the band stayed stocked with drinks and food.
She did eventually find a hotel, up in College Park, Maryland, and went as far as calling the hotel and waiting on hold to ensure her last minute booking went through. Not only was it affordable, but it also had an indoor pool and, improbably, a mini-golf course—unfortunately, given how early the band had to leave to drive up to upstate New York the next morning, they would not be able to take advantage of either. That didn’t seem to bother Atkins. She was just looking for a clean place to sleep for a couple of hours before a long drive ahead.
Backstage before the show, Atkins held court, showing off her record store finds as band members floated in and out, killing time before their set. She often gets stage fright about half an hour before she goes on, but it’s never been something that has prevented her from performing—and at least this far out from the show, she was perfectly calm and relaxed. While most of her band members grabbed beers, she popped open an organic energy drink and bit into a baguette covered with cheese.
Scottish singer-songwriter Davey Horn was opening for Atkins, along with goth-punk act Shilpa Ray and her band. Horn had been playing guitar for Atkins on this leg of the tour. Just a few days before, Irina Yalkowsky, who played guitar on Mondo Amore, joined up with the band as an emergency replacement for another guitarist. She had three and a half days to learn the new songs, which she described as “very tricky material—the last record was easier.” Yalkowsky was visibly nervous before their set, and Horn quietly practiced the new tracks with her backstage.
With a smaller crowd, it’s easier for Atkins to get stuck in her head, looking at every single person and wondering what they’re thinking. With a big audience, she gets lost in the crowd and performs without thinking about it all. That night, Alabama Shakes was playing at a nearby venue, which left Atkins wondering if that would pull some of her fans away from the show.
But more often than not, the scene backstage devolved into ridiculous goofiness. As part of her Pledge Music Campaign, Atkins had 14 disposable cameras with her on tour that she’ll send out to supportive fans once she finishes the rolls. She had 14 separate pictures taken of her, one on each camera, as she held up the Nina Hagen record and made a series of funny faces into the lens.
By the time they were about to go on stage, the dressing room was littered with backpacks and beer bottles and takeout containers filled with chicken wings. Atkins sat in front of a full-length mirror in a vintage metallic cape, teasing her hair and singing along as Horn and Yalkowsky spent one last minute practicing “Red Ropes.” The rest of the band slowly wandered around the room, singing along or reassuring one another that they looked and sounded great. It was calm and serious, just another sign of the maturity Atkins and her band now possess and the care with which they treat every show.
When Atkins first took the stage, there was little sign of the goofy, polite hipster from earlier that day. The stage was all smoke and silhouettes and the band started with “Vultures” off of Mondo Amore, slowly, unhurriedly. Reminiscent of a dark Fleetwood Mac, it was intriguing and powerful.
The room wasn’t full, but fans pushed to the front, eager to see and hear Atkins. Between songs, her banter was just as easy onstage as it was that afternoon. She responded with a smile to a couple of marriage proposals shouted from the audience with, “Can always count on you, DC, to make things very awkward.”
When the band played “Red Ropes” a few songs into the set, there was no sign that they had all played together only a couple of times before. Yalkowsky looked and sounded confident—perhaps the backstage practice paid off. And toward the end of the night, when the band launched into “Cry Cry Cry” off of Amore, Yalkowsky was back in familiar territory, and held nothing back. She owned that song.
About half way through the set, Atkins picked up her guitar and led the audience in a sing-a-long of a new country song that will be on the UK version of the album. It’s about “how I hate commercial country rock.” The song was a throwback to the era of Loretta Lynn, when country music was filled with soul. And Atkins wasn’t kidding about the meaning, as she sang, “I don’t know country is, but I know what country was.”
It took awhile before they got to the heart of Slow Phaser. But despite the change in tone, the crowd was energized and singing along to “Girl You Look Amazing.” Whatever fear Atkins may have possessed when putting this record together had dissipated. She was just as comfortable dancing to disco as she was belting the blues or clapping to country.
The set ended with Atkins on stage alone, just her and her guitar, covering Roy Orbinson’s “Cry.” It’s a cover she’s played for years and was a slow, beautiful ending to an eclectic night, a fitting tribute to one of Atkins’s lasting inspirations, a thread that ties all of her music together.
Atkins is at a turning point in her career, a little bit older, perhaps on the brink of commercial success, and, as often accompanies age, all the more reflective and realistic but still unafraid to push herself toward new sounds and new ways to express herself.
For her fans, it’s baffling that she hasn’t received more public attention as an artist, though her albums have all received high praise from critics. When looking to the future, beyond the tour with Nick Cave this summer, she’s thinking about moving to Los Angeles, where she sees a stronger music scene than in New York. Her band members debated the merits of Memphis, New Orleans, and Nashville. Atkins nixed them all for size or quality of life or, in the case of Nashville, the fact that it is landlocked was “a deal breaker.” Memphis might work, but only “if it was close to New Jersey.” Los Angeles is far away, but it’s by the water, and she believes the sunshine will fuel her productivity.
At age 35, with two critically acclaimed full-length albums under her belt, Atkins chose the path of least stability—and created one of her strongest albums to date, on her own label. If a move to Los Angeles will fuel similar creative surprises and liberations, it will be another welcome change.
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WASHINGTON, DC PHOTOS: CHRIS RUDY
