Vultures

VINYL FORMAT. 'After settling a bidding war over her debut full-length by joining Rick Rubin's Columbia Records, releasing the Neptune City LP in 2007 and a covers EP (Nicole Atkins Digs Other People's Songs) the following year, Nicole Atkins is readying a new release, on a new label (Razor & Tie), that splits the difference between her previous two: it's a 7? featuring a new original, "Vultures," backed with a cover, of Can's "Vitamin C." In the past few years we've seen a lot of Nicole as an auxiliary player in some higher profile Canadian-oriented indie-pop moments, like Feist's white-clad indie choir for her "1234? performance on Letterman, or guest vocals on record (and on Letterman) with A.C. Newman. It's nice to see her back in Brooklyn, focusing on her own again. Nicole's on record describing her sound as "pop-noir," which certainly fits "Vultures" and its passionately dark, bleak but not without heart mood. As always it's her sometimes gritty, often soaring vocal that's anchoring the track, but she's pushed ably by her backing band the Black Sea, great snare sound through the hollowed verse, lush, choral vocal arrangements and twisted, bluesy lift through the hook and transitional passages.' - Stereogum