Nicole Atkins - Mondo Amore
After the release of her much acclaimed 2007 debut album, 'Neptune City', Nicole Atkins suffered some major set-backs. She lost her band, her deal with Columbia records and her boyfriend. Dusting herself down, she got down to work on a new album, 'Mondo Amore' on which a more courageous and provocative approach was taken.
The album opener, 'Vultures' serves as a great metaphor for Atkins' determination to stand up to the circling setbacks of her personal life. The track itself having psychedelic undertones is a throwback to the 1960s/70s. Surprisingly, the next track is a no-nonsense, full on pop song. 'Cry Cry Cry' shows Atkins experiment with a cleaner, catchier sound.
Atkins is very happy with her backing musicians, collectively known as 'The Black Sea'; she says "This is the best lineup I've ever played with". On this album, she has attempted a more volatile sound than she had previously attempted. This is very evident with the deeply emotional 'You Were The Devil' and 'War Is Hell', where her collaboration with producer Phil Palazzolo has bore some excellent results.
With her influences quoted as Scott Walker and Nick Cave, sweeping emotion and passion are often expressed. 'Hotel Plaster' is all of this with a bluesy feel thrown in for good measure. The album is multi-dimensional and moves from mood to mood and style to style. The bold, high energy 'You Come To Me' is perfectly contrasted by the bluesey 'My Baby Don't Lie'.
The album is filled with contrasts and you get the feeling that Atkins is enjoying herself, yet producing dramatic tension with some finely crafted songs; often romantic and sometimes expressing anger. Atkins voice is always clear and coherent. She has an uncanny knack of making it work with every song and every style on the album.
The song variations are very welcome and the slower, downbeat songs are performed with the same intensity and layering as the more 'in your face' tracks. The backing band of musicians is competent and tight, which results in a very pleasing production, which is also due to the huge contributions of producer Phil Palazzolo.