On her 2007 Columbia debut, NEPTUNE CITY, New Jersey-raised/Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Nicole Atkins offers up a bold, vibrant set of songs that place her in the company of fellow pop eccentrics such as Rufus Wainwright, Fiona Apple, and Keren Ann. With her resonant voice and lush, inventive arrangements, Atkins sounds like an old soul, a point hit home by the jaunty album opener, "Maybe Tonight," and "Brooklyn's on Fire!," a majestic tune bolstered by strings and choir-like vocals.
Personnel: Miranda Gjerstad, Johana Beckman, Minna Wall, Solveig Sandnes, Peter Minorsson, Maria Kohnke, Ulf Turesson, Emil de Waal, Alexandra Hamnede, Andreas Stellan, Mattias Gustavsson (vocals); Jens Lindgard (guitar, sitar, trombone, guitar synthesizer, bass guitar); Dave Hollinghurst (guitar); Tore Johansson (slide guitar, acoustic bass, bass guitar); Filip Runesson (violin, viola, cello); Sven Andersson (flute, saxophone); Peter Lindgard (trumpet, drums, percussion); Martin Gjerstad (piano, spinet, electric piano, organ, reed organ, Mellotron, vibraphone, chimes); Daniel "Shaolun" Chen (electric piano, reed organ, Mellotron); Daniel Mintzer (drums); Korey Mall (percussion).
Rolling Stone (p.85) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "Draping her throaty voice over velvety surf-guitar ballads, orchestral studio pop and misty piano-bar melodies...she calls out the bridges, bars and ex-boyfriends she left behind..." Spin (p.98) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[The] songwriter cooly distills the romanticism of '60s girl groups into dark, baleful country pop." Entertainment Weekly (p.63) - "[W]ith percolating percussion, funky bass lines, and romantic filmscore strings. It's heartbreak nearly at its finest -- and most cosmopolitan." -- Grade: B+ Q (Magazine) (p.132) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Atkins has a big voice and a taste for melodrama informed by Roy Orbison [and] Phil Spector....It all comes together on 'Maybe Tonight' and the title track, an elegy for her ailing hometown."
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