Alex Nicol - Been A Long Year Vol. 1 [EP]
FLOOD Magazine, Brooklyn Vegan, Exclaim, Northern Transmissions
“Alex Nicol writes hauntingly enigmatic tunes and this new EP is a simply beautiful collection of songs. He sings like an angel and his fragile vocal truly touches the soul!” – Guy Chadwick, HOUSE OF LOVE
“full of floating melodies and dark textures” – UNDER THE RADAR
The lead single and title track includes the unmistakable guest vocals of Angel Deradoorian (Dirty Projectors / Decisive Pink).
The eponymously titled track provides a captivating entry-point to an inspiring new collection of songs from Alex Nicol entitled ‘Been A Long Year Vol.1’. To the casual observer, the softly billowing sounds of Nicol’s new EP may not immediately communicate a sense of hardship, but arrive as the direct byproduct of a journey through personal tragedy to self-acceptance for the Montreal singer formerly of the band Hoan.
The years surrounding the EP’s creation weren’t particularly kind to anyone, but shortly after completing his 2020 debut long-player ‘All For Nada’, Nicol entered a phase of staggering loss and mourning. Friends died. Family members died. He lost his job. As each new crushing sadness hit, Nicol began realising he’d spent his adult life avoiding difficult emotions like the ones he was being overpowered by. It slowly became clearer that his upbringing had conditioned him to maintain a false but constant state of hyper-stability. A small lifetime’s worth of unacknowledged feelings began coming to the surface and everything in Nicol’s world began to change.
While beautiful and well-thought, Nicol’s music before this often hid behind over-intellectualisation. Devotions were specific and his poetic turns were sincere, but emotional wavelengths were tightly controlled. For the songs that poured out for ‘Been A Long Year Vol. 1’, Nicol let the raw feelings flow. Instead of fine-tuning lyrics or meticulously dissecting every possible way a song could be interpreted, it was more important to set free what was trying to get out. He was uncovering a newfound vulnerability within himself, and this carried over into the music as well. Lyrics about how much hurt he’d been holding onto, how scary the world could be or how overwhelming his recent experiences had been were transmitted without fear or qualification. Nicol relinquished control and simply tried to be honest with himself.
Even though it bloomed out of heavy times, the resultant EP is by no means a gloomy listen. The songs move with warmth and curiosity, Nicol’s haunting voice gliding over understated chamber pop flourishes, elastic bass grooves, and expansive production that spills out like the sun’s rays breaking through the clouds. The EP pulses with a gentle melancholy that recalls the fragile sweetness of Nick Drake or Sea Change-era Beck, and it explores the same arid atmospheres as contemporaries like Andy Shauf or Wand vocalist Cory Hanson’s country-tinged solo albums. More than anything, ‘Been A Long Year Vol. 1’ feels like a protracted sigh of relief. It’s a document of a calloused spirit finally letting go, and the weightlessness Nicol achieves outshines all of the struggles that brought him to this point.
With all songs written and performed by Alex Nicol (vocals, acoustic guitar, mellotron, farfisa), guest musicianship across its five songs was contributed from Simon Trottier (electric guitar, lap steel), Maxime Castellon (bass) and Guillaume Ethier (drums).
Produced and mixed by Emmanuel Ethier (who also contributed strings and keys) with additional mixing by Mark Lawson, Alex Nicol’s ‘Been A Long Year Vol. 1’ EP will be released on 30th June 2023.