“This whole album is almost like my fight against loneliness,” says Nicole Atkins of her latest release, Drama. “A lot of the songs came out of the fact that my husband and I basically have a long distance relationship. We're both on the road. He's a tour manager. I'm an artist. We can be apart for months at a time.” Those feelings of isolation and separation, complicated by sleep problems and some career uncertainty, left Atkins feeling overwhelmed at times. “I had to write myself through a lot.”
As the material started to take shape, she felt like she was “building a life raft,” and not only for herself. “With everything going on in the world, it's easy to forget that we're all the same,” she says. “We're being disconnected and pulled apart. We're longing for connection. That's what I want to write and sing about, and hopefully by doing that, make people feel a little less lonely.”
The life rafts on Drama are sturdy, with smart design and a buoyancy that's a tonic for our times. The Spectorized girl group rush of “Trippin' On Teardrops,” the pulsing Memphis soul-styled “For No One,” the James Bond-meets-Stevie Nicks noir of “Danny,” and the ABBA-worthy, anthemic “Singing In The Mirror.” As always when dissecting Atkins' neo-classic sound, it's fun to play with mash-up descriptions – even she offers her own colorful takes - “What if Brian Eno, Scott Walker and Lee Hazlewood were all partying?” and “It's like a Broadway show playing on a dive bar stage.” But beyond the adjectives and metaphorical accolades, you arrive at one simple fact. Atkins has the alchemical ability to transform her influences into singular sonic statements. As a songwriter, she leans into the personal. And as a singer, her unabashedly dramatic voice flies far above easy comparison. Think of her as a retro futurist, a transcendental medium, and very much an artist following her own muses.
Her journey began in Neptune City, New Jersey, where she developed her taste and sensibility early. “There's a poetic isolation at the Jersey shore,” she says. “All the tourists leave, and you're stuck with this really gloomy, but beautiful place, and nothing to do. Also, there were all these summertime musicians who'd play every night on the beach. I grew up thinking that was a normal job.” Raiding the record collections of her parents and grandparents drew her to dramatic singers from Candi Staton to Roy Orbison. When she found an old acoustic guitar in the attic of her uncle's house, her course was set. “Actually, I either wanted to be a rock star or a professional wrestler,” Atkins says, with a laugh.
In a weird way, she became both. After the splash of her major label debut Neptune City in 2007, she toured with The Black Keys and Nick Cave, did TV appearances and got tons of press. But when that didn't translate into big sales, she tumbled into years of music business limbo. While she kept making solid albums, Atkins admits she lost focus and her sense of joy. A move to Nashville with her husband provided a tonic that helped her climb back in the ring. “There's a great community of songwriters here, so I feel supported,” she says. “Songwriting has become a normal part of my life. Eat lunch, listen to a record, write a song. It's nice to be in a place where you have poetic-minded friends all around who just keep you in the flow of it.”
Among those friends is Chris Isaak, who she has regularly toured with for years (he duets with her on the wonderfully moody “Cue The Symphony”). “Chris has been so supportive,” she says of the “Wicked Game” singer, who in 2021 partnered with Sun Records as an artist and curator of new music. “When he heard the songs I was writing, he said, 'I should sign you to Sun.' And suddenly, it was like, 'Wow, I'm gonna make a record again!'”
It had been six years since her last, Italian Ice, and Atkins admits she had some self-doubt. Enter another Nashville pal, Patrick Sansone. The producer and Wilco multi-instrumentalist proved to be the perfect foil for Drama. “Pat knows so much about that chamber pop style of music, and that's my North Star and home base,” Atkins says. “I write like I write - sometimes it sounds '80s, sometimes it sounds '60s, sometimes it sounds '50s. And Pat always gets it. He was able to help me sprinkle that baroque sound throughout the whole record, so it all made sense together.”
Accompanied by her touring band (John Paul Keith on guitar, Danny Banks on drums, plus guests Eric Slick of Dr. Dog, Dan Creamer of The Texas Gentlemen and Scottish troubadour Davey Horne), rhythm tracks were cut over four days, capturing a live sound (“For me, it's always about how the song will translate on stage,” Atkins says). Then she and Sansone hunkered down in his home studio for overdubs. “I've never worked with somebody who I trust that much to add arrangement touches and parts to my songs,” Atkins says. “And even occasionally if I didn't love some part he did, he wouldn't be hurt. Pat's such a pro, and a positive force.”
With a summertime release, and touring planned for early 2027, Atkins feels optimistic about the album, noting a change in the music world at large. “When I first came out, I was kind of on an island,” she says. “Nobody other than Richard Hawley was doing new takes on past love for melodies. There's more of a scene now. Lemon Twigs, Steven Sanchez, The Last Dinner Party, Haute & Freddy. I felt like they gave me permission to just be myself.”
And as on previous albums, she ups the ante by aiming to “write modern songs that could be part of the Great American Songbook.” But in her own way. “I'm not trying to rehash or celebrate some bygone era,” she 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?”
Drama sounds exactly like Nicole Atkins.
John Gallagher Jr.
John Gallagher Jr. is a Brooklyn based singer-songwriter who has been seen on stage and screens both small and large.
Notable film and TV roles include The Newsroom, Short Term 12, 10 Cloverfield Lane, and Hush. He won a Tony Award for his performance in Duncan Sheik’s hit musical Spring Awakening, portrayed the Jesus of Suburbia in the Broadway adaptation of Green Day’s Grammy winning rock opera American Idiot, and most recently starred in Swept Away - a new musical featuring songs by The Avett Brothers. But when it comes to his music, that’s a bit more personal.
Born in the Small Wonder to folk musicians, John wrote his first song at the ripe age of 5. Rather, just the chorus, as he would earnestly admit to his listeners today. In the years between he has played in a half-dozen bands ranging from roots rock to pop punk. He gigs most often as a solo performer, wielding his Gibson J-45 and red lightning bolt strap. Taking inspiration from Prine, Costello, Springsteen, Westerberg and Schlesinger - his music is raw, honest, and heartfelt. Emo folk rock, if you will.
