Four years after her acclaimed major label debut with Neptune City, Nicole Atkins has come back with sexy bluesy vigor on Mondo Amore.
To be perfectly honest, I’d never heard Atkins’ music before sitting down to take a listen to this new album, but now I’ve found myself wanted to listen to the rest of it. And checking to see when she’s touring in Seattle (turns out in less than a week!). Normally I’m not one to love female vocalists so easily. I’m pretty sure abut 80 percent of my music library is male vocalists. However, Atkins has such an traditional blues rock style on this album that I want to pick up a harmonica and slide guitar all of a sudden.
Opening with the strings-heavy dark and beautiful “Vultures,” Atkins’ soulful voice has both a sweet and haunting tone to it that hits a perfect spot between Alison Mosshart and Jenny Lewis. You never thought you’d see those two names in the same sentence, did you?
One stand out on the album is “My Baby Don’t Lie,” an up-tempo knee-slapping sing-along that conjures up thoughts of cowboy boots, tumble weeds, and plenty of pints of beer, but not campy in the slightest. I could say that this was country rock, but there’s so much attitude that to even call it country would downplay how dark and beautiful this album is.
“War is Hell,” another fabulous tune, is the one crooning ballad near the end of the album. It almost reminds me of Brandi Carlile‘s first album, with the low notes slowly crescendoing to the passionate high notes.
To finish out the album, we get the more contemporary “Heavy Boots,” tinged with psychedelic folk, and “The Tower,” a song that could have easily come right out of Woodstock ’69. I’m not kidding. This is going to sound cliche, but I can easily say that I haven’t heard anyone else Nicole Atkins lately. The mixture of the old-school vocals and vintage blues guitar on Mondo Amore is so ironically refreshing that I almost wonder what decade it is.
Wait, it’s 1970, right?
Go to http://mondoamore.nicoleatkins.com/ to stream “Vultures” and get tickets to her upcoming tour.
Tour Dates:
02/09 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
02/11 Vancouver, BC Media Club
02/12 Seattle, WA Tractor Tavern
02/13 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios
02/15 San Francisco, CA Cafe Du Nord
02/16 West Hollywood, CA Troubadour
02/18 La Jolla, CA The Loft at UCSD
02/23 Boston,MA Brighton Music Hall
02/25 Montreal, QU La Sala Rossa
02/26 Toronto, ONT The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
02/27 Detroit, MI Magic Stick
03/01 St. Paul, MN Turf Club
03/02 Madison, WI The Frequency
03/04 Chicago, IL Subterranean
03/05 St. Louis, MO The Firebird
03/07 Nashville, TN Mercy Lounge
03/09 Washington, DC The Rock and Roll Hotel
03/10 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda’s
