For Nicole Atkins, the upcoming summer months should have been filled with tour dates across the country in support of her energy-packed, genre-bending new record Italian Ice. Although the ongoing pandemic shifted her plans, the innovative singer-songwriter has taken it all in stride.
To keep her connection with fans strong during the time of social distancing, Atkins launched a weekly series called Alone We’re All Together, which streams live from her home on Saturday evenings. Since the series began in March, Atkins has teased new cuts from Italian Ice and revisited old favorites, including tracks from her critically acclaimed 2017 record Goodnight Rhonda Lee. The livestream project has allowed Atkins to experiment and take on a role she’s always found herself drawn to.
“I remember when I was little, I had a boombox, and I would always record songs on the radio and pretend I was David Lee Roth and the rock DJ interviewing him — but it was just me interviewing myself,” Atkins tells the Scene. “With the livestream, it’s kind of like I get to go back to the way I was playing in childhood. It’s with fancier toys that break all the time, but you just figure it out.”
Over the past few weeks, Atkins has brought in an array of special guests, including fellow Nashvillians Lilly Hiatt, Aaron Lee Tasjan and Ruby Boots. Collaboration also played a large part in the creation of Italian Ice, which she recorded in the Alabama soul music mecca of Muscle Shoals. It’s an unusual choice of venue for a record that draws so much inspiration from the Jersey Shore and Atkins’ hometown, the Asbury Park-adjacent Neptune City. But not using the history of the studio in the way you might expect was part of the appeal.
“I didn’t want it to be like a Muscle Shoals tribute record, but I love sounds from the past,” she says. “I’m trying to keep those elements, like the melodies and that classic songwriting tone, but push them into the future.”
To help cultivate a soundscape that fit her vision, Atkins recruited friends from a widely varied array of genres and styles. The record’s lead single, the nostalgic ballad “Captain,” features Britt Daniel, frontman of indie-rock heroes Spoon, on backing vocals. A more Americana-leaning group — including Erin Rae, John Paul White and Seth Avett — appears on Atkins’ ode to life on the road, “Never Going Home Again.”
With producer Ben Tanner at the helm, Atkins brought in The Dap-Kings’ former guitarist and emcee Binky Griptite and St. Vincent drummer McKenzie Smith, as well as Jim Sclavunos and Dave Sherman from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Two of Muscle Shoals’ revered session players, bassist David Hood and keyboardist Spooner Oldham, also came aboard as part of Atkins’ backing band.
“You’re not going to get provided a moment by just walking into a great studio,” Atkins says. “It’s really about the people — a combination of all the settings.”
The result of those days at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio is a record that is heartfelt and hopeful, sometimes frantic with energy and subdued and sweet in other moments. Elements of disco, soul, retro pop and gritty rock all meld into something that feels fresh while still giving a slight nod to the past.
“I wanted to make something that I wasn’t hearing in music, and something that made me feel better,” Atkins says. “The news has just been so crazy the last few years. It’s hard to not get caught up in things.”
Italian Ice album art
At its core, Italian Ice is Atkins’ version of sounds that have thrived among the bustling of the Asbury Park boardwalk, a place that’s played a role in the careers of artists as diverse as Patti Smith, Count Basie and Bruce Springsteen. That buzzy feeling of excitement and freedom that comes with a steamy summer night spent roaming the strip drips from every track on the new LP.
The Jersey boardwalk is a fundamental influence on Atkins, and it’s where her roots are. The devastating damage the area suffered from Hurricane Sandy in 2012 was a shock to her. That made her shift her perspective, putting a stronger emphasis on finding comfort in the unknown.
“It was like all the things that I grew up with, knew and thought would be around forever were just gone,” she says. “It taught me this big lesson that everything is going to change — you just roll with it, and it’s not going to kill you. And even if it does, you won’t have to worry about it because you’ll be dead, you know?”
This resilient attitude radiates out from Atkins’ approach to living in the world we’re in today and infuses her art. Like much of her work, Italian Ice offers honesty, humor and humility.
“If you’re going to write a love song, you gotta throw in a melancholy chord here and there,” she says with a laugh. “If you write a song you can dance to, it has to be about the end of the world. Lyrics make you cry, but the music makes you dance.”
