Search - Nicole Atkins :: Neptune City

Renee K. from JAX BCH, FL
Reviewed on 9/26/2010...

Her voice is wonderful, great energy, terrific rock'n'roll woman!

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Michael L. (Popmeister) from READING, PA
Reviewed on 11/27/2009...

Nicole Atkins has a big voice - think kd lang or Neko Case - but she uses her voice tastefully. She doesn't over-emote, like Melissa Ethridge, for example. Her songs and arrangements remind me of some of Roy Orbison's big productions. You should check this out now!

Nicole Atkins is here

K. Porter | Austin, TX | 11/11/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"On Neptune City, Jersey girl Nicole Atkins summons the iconographic spirits of Bruce Springsteen, Roy Orbison, Loretta Lynn, lets them live inside her, and proceeds to transcend them into what we hear on this record. In this genre-less record of darkly psychedelic Jersey-shore romanticism, Nicole Atkins throws her hat into that ring of artists managing to straddle the fence-line between indie and mainstream credibility and ends up being sucessful in this pursuit.



The first thing that will strike you upon first listen is the voice, and its willingness and ability to go anywhere the music drives it to. No one worth his salt would ever accuse Atkins of having a voice without merit, and in the immaculate melodies found here it's on display in its finest form. I dare anyone to stand unmoved when listening to the chorus of "The Way It Is" I dare you. "Cool Enough" functions beautifully as the hypothetical female response to Born to Run, what Wendy might have been saying to that grand proposition. It's on this track, along with several others, Atkins displays what may be described as commanding vulernability. The title track is wholly soaked in its own dirty water bitter nostalgia. But Atkins isn't above belting crazy-infectious pop. "Maybe Tonight" encapsulates the restless hope that permeates the entire record. By the time the chorus hits, you are forced into the corner that demands you be either crushed by the broken promises or lifted up despite them.



Nicole Atkins emerges triumphant as a singular sound on her first album. Look, it's just a really great CD and you should buy it. She's the real thing. Let her in and find out what happens next."

Nicole Atkins: Catch Her...If You Can

Some Crazy Dame | New Jersey, USA | 11/15/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After a half year's delay, Nicole Atkins and the Sea's long-awaited official major-label debut, Neptune City, is finally here. Those of you who are familiar with her prior EPs, 2004's Party's Over and last year's Bleeding Diamonds, have heard many of these songs before, but this time, they've received star treatment from producer Tore Johansson (New Order, Franz Ferdinand), a host of studio musicians, and finishing touches provided by none other than mixman extraordinaire Rick Rubin (the cause of the delay...I think I'd delay my record too if Rubin wanted to get his mitts on it). Old fans, I urge you not to miss out, and potential new fans, you've gotta get this record.



If you're in the latter group, with a glance at Atkins' striking yet unsmiling face peering out at you from the cover's dreamy, pasteled artwork, you might readily dismiss her as just another lightweight chick singer-songwriter. Don't do it. Nicole Atkins will connect with you. No matter how hard you try to distance yourself, her lyrics reach into your psyche and say, "Hey! I've been there, too. And it's okay. You'll be fine. Just look at me. I turned out all right; you will, too!"



Atkins' music has been described as soaring, and this CD is no exception. Johansson rightly supports her very big voice with lush arrangements and equally big sound. It's very Phil Spectoresque, especially on tracks like "The Way It Is" and "Party's Over." The stripped-down version of "War Torn" on Bleeding Diamonds bears very little resemblance to the version here. However, Atkins' compositions hold up remarkably well whether you are hearing them on the CD with the full complement of Sea musicians (the four Ds: Dave, Dan, Derek and the other Dan) plus the orchestral session help hired by Johansson, or whether you're hearing Atkins play them solo acoustic in a local coffeeshop somewhere in Monmouth County.



The tunes cover a vast degree of territory geographically, emotionally and stylistically, but Atkins' powerful, confident alto ties them all together in a complete, balanced package of treats for your ears. Obviously, it's her voice that makes you sit up and pay attention, but the tracks' pace and variety will keep you guessing. The band dives right in with the cautiously optimistic rocker "Maybe Tonight," takes it down a notch with the lamenting "Together We Are Not Alone," and in the CD's pièce de résistance, "The Way It Is," starts slow but builds to a crescendo of passion and longing, virtually daring you to stop listening. The bombast, strings, and unrelenting "Fourth of July, Brooklyn's on Fire!" hook in "Brooklyn's On Fire!" is the tonal antithesis of the quiet, reflective title track. And "War Torn"'s solemn strings underscore a glimpse at the sad end to a relationship ripped apart by circumstances beyond anyone's control.



Like many artists, Atkins makes wry observations about places she's been and people she's met and translates them into song. She grew up in Neptune City, went to school in North Carolina, spent considerable time in Australia, lived in Brooklyn for a while, and is now back in Asbury Park. Songs like "Cool Enough" capture the wanderlust in a young girl; in lines like, "This place has got nothing that I could want...so take me with you," you feel her desire to get the hell out of Dodge. Though young, she's also wise enough to realize that "Someday, I might feel different." And sure enough, after trying on other cities and countries for size, she's ended up right back in Asbury Park, just next door to the place which, as she said in "Neptune City," she wasn't sure if she could go home to again.



Welcome, back, Nicole. Go ahead and tour the world, but please keep coming home to Jersey where you belong."