Hear Nicole Atkins' New Duet With Chris Isaak 'Cue the Symphony'
(BHM) Nicole Atkins is proud to unveil her eagerly anticipated new album, Drama, available everywhere now via Sun Records/Wicked Game Records. Atkins' seventh studio album and first all-new full-length release in over six years, Drama includes the cinematically evocative new single, "Cue the Symphony," featuring duet vocals from longtime friend - and Wicked Game Records founder - Chris Isaak.
"While sitting on Chris Isaak's porch during a rain storm this song came out of a conversation we were having," says Nicole Atkins. "A mundane sentence had a certain sparkle and morphed into a ballad of everlasting love. It only took about 10 minutes until we were swept into the drama of it and the full cinematic scope of 'Cue the Symphony' came into being. I've been singing with Chris Isaak for almost 20 years and this song is the first time we've committed our voices to tape together. It's the 'sadness but sexy' centerpiece of my new record Drama."
Drama is further highlighted by the album-opening "Trippin' on Teardrops," joined by an official music video filmed on location in a historic turn-of-the-century mansion in Atkins' home state of New Jersey and streaming now on YouTube following its exclusive premiere via FLOOD. The album also includes such standouts as the anthemic "Singing In The Mirror" and the acclaimed first single, "When the Night Falls," the latter hailed by Stereogum as "a shimmering, slow-building piece of old-school pop excellence" and joined by an official music video streaming now on YouTube.
Atkins' seventh studio album and first all-new full-length release in over six years, Drama also includes such standouts as the anthemic "Singing In The Mirror" and the acclaimed first single, "When the Night Falls," the latter hailed by Stereogum as "a shimmering, slow-building piece of old-school pop excellence" and joined by an official music video streaming now on YouTube.
Largely recorded live over four productive days in her current home base of Nashville, TN, with GRAMMY Award-nominated musician/producer Pat Sansone (Wilco, The Autumn Defense, Robyn Hitchcock), Drama sees Atkins exploring the isolation, separation, and loneliness of a long-distance marriage through her signature fusion of musical genres and intimate lyrical songcraft. The album came together at the behest of her close friend and touring partner Chris Isaak, who signed her to Sun Records as part of his strategic alliance with the historic label as both artist and curator of new projects with his new imprint, Wicked Game Records. Drama spans style and era with smart design and irrepressible buoyancy, from the girl-group rush of "Trippin' On Teardrops" and Memphis soul-styled "For No One" to the James Bond-meets-Stevie Nicks noir of "Danny" and the wonderfully moody duet with Isaak, "Cue The Symphony."
"I've been in love with Nicole's songs for many years and have always followed her career," says Chris Isaak. "She and I are so simpatico when it comes to the music that inspires us, and she has a unique way of distilling that into her songwriting. She's a true craftsman and an incredible singer. When it came time to start the label, she was my first thought. I'm so honored that she's the label's first signing, and I love Drama!"
Accompanied by her touring band, guitarist John Paul Keith and drummer Danny Banks, with contributions by Sansone, in-demand drummer Eric Slick (Dr. Dog, Robyn Hitchcock, Brian Fallon), The Texas Gentlemen's Dan Creamer, and Scottish troubadour Davey Horne, Atkins once again showcases her alchemical ability to transform myriad influences into singular sonic statements, leaning into the deeply personal in her ongoing quest to "write modern songs that could be part of the Great American Songbook." Through it all, Atkins's vivid, unabashedly dramatic voice flies far above easy comparison. Neo-classicist, retro-futurist, and transcendental medium - Drama makes it plain that Nicole Atkins somehow remains all of those things while always wholeheartedly following her own muse.
"I'm not trying to rehash or celebrate some bygone era," Nicole Atkins says. "I'm just taking what I like melodically from the past and channeling it into my songs. I like to make them deeply personal. The question I come back to is - how do I make this sound exactly like me?"
Atkins will celebrate the arrival of Drama with a wide-ranging live schedule, including a fall tour beginning October 9 at Columbus, OH's Rumba Cafe and then continuing through early December.
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