If you have yet to be blessed by the smooth sounds of Toronto, Ontario’s Nikki’s Wives, then you’re missing out on a wonderful treat- and we’ll be happy to introduce you to them.
Nikki’s Wives is a pop music trio led by teenage-prodigy, Nikki Whitehead, who exudes effortless cool with sleek style and smoky vocals. With Dylan Lauzon on guitar and Nate Baylor on drums, Nikki’s Wives recently released their new EP, For E*V*E*R, an album comprised of hazy vocals laden over vintage synths, sweeping strings, and faux brass. The arrangement of such electic sounds creates an almost cinematic experience of seductively chill vibes that will have you unquestionably hooked, hanging on every suspended note of this aural fixation.
Today, the band is taking us through an in-depth exploration of For E*V*E*R, delving into the inspiration, processes, and meaning behind each track. In partnership with the track by track (and for your enjoyment), we’ve embedded the spotify stream of the album at the bottom of the page.
“FOR E•V•E•R”
This one was kind of interesting – Dylan’s grandma left him this little plastic car when she passed. Inside the seats of the car were 4 shot glasses and a crystal karaffe. Anyway – one day he was driving and it fell over, flipping a switch inside it that made it play music. It was like this creepy old tune – which kind of inspired this song. Alastair recorded the song, and then together we chopped up all the individual notes and made the intro melody of it. We always felt like it was the most interesting song on the record, which is kind of why it ended up as the title track. It gave us a chance to explore writing a bit more without our actual instruments in hand, which I think led to something pretty interesting.
“Lonely Being Cool”
We started this track third or fourth in our writing process, and honestly we just wanted to have fun with something musically. Just kind of challenge ourselves to play with some timbres that we’ve never really touched before, especially in terms of horns and stuff. We actually had some fun with this one in the studio, because we got connected with some amazing horn players, including a couple members of Rick James’ original band.
“Fight Song”
Nate’s always watching this show on youtube called Begin Japanology. It’s this show about all sorts of random elements of Japanese culture, from the smallest most minute elements to big huge cultural themes. Anyway – there was this episode about Japanese Taiko drums, and we realized they sounded super bad ass and wanted to see what we could do with them. We dug up a sample library and away we went. Lyrically I think one of us was just going through a bit of a break up, and the aggression of the drums just really drove that emotion home for us.
“Another Lie”
This one was super challenging to record, because it was written in a big way using a computer, so when it came to learning the parts on guitar, or even the vocal parts some of them weren’t too natural. Big highlight on this one though is the sax solo by Eric Wozniak. He literally just threw it down in one or two takes, while we weren’t even there. We were off playing a gig in Buffalo, while our main boy Alastair Sims was back making sure all the horns went in the way we wanted. For me (Dylan) this track has always been a bit of a dark horse. I always seem to forget about it, but when it comes on I love it.
“Fantasize”
This is the first song Nikki’s Wives ever wrote together as a band. I remember it so clearly too – our little demo studio was under construction so we had to do it at Dylan’s apartment – the problem was it was dead of winter and Dylan was having problems with his furnace, so all we had was a little wood fireplace. We sat in his little apartment, which was like 40 degrees, and froze while writing this song. All of the songs on this EP actually. It really inspired us to get everything done in a hurry though!
“Ghost”
This was the last song of our writing session for this record, and honestly it was a really bittersweet moment. We felt we had hit all of our emotional targets, so we kind of let this one go wherever it wanted. It’s sort of about when you lose someone or something, but in some way it seems to follow you everywhere, whether you’re recognizing a familiar perfume smell, or hearing a song you shared.
This song also really showcases the beautiful string arrangements of our friend Richie English, who arranged all the strings for us on this record.
About Nikki’s Wives
Nikki’s Wives is a pop music trio led by teenage-prodigy, Nikki Whitehead, who exudes effortless cool with sleek style and smoky vocals. With Dylan Lauzon on guitar and Nate Baylor on drums, Nikki’s Wives recently released their new EP, For E*V*E*R.Starting her career as a solo artist, Nikki has been in and out of studios since she was 12 years old. After struggling for years to find collaborators who shared her aesthetic vision, Nikki found a creative home with Dylan and Nate. The trio instantly fed off each other’s creative energies and decided to redefine the project to reflect this radiant spirit, marrying three talents to create Nikki’s Wives. Their name comes from an inside joke: Nikki, Dylan and Nate all say that being in this band is the closest they will ever get to being married.
Today, the band has been featured on Fox News, NBC, Victoria’s Secret parties, Ones To Watch, Idobi Radio, and so many more! To top it all off, Nikki’s Wives recently hit the road with the one and only CeeLo Green. Make no mistake- this band is destined for great things!
Connect with Nikki’s Wives!
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Nikki’s Wives is a pop music trio led by teenage-prodigy, Nikki Whitehead, who exudes effortless cool with sleek style and smoky vocals. With Dylan Lauzon on guitar and Nate Baylor on drums, Nikki’s Wives recently released their new EP, For E*V*E*R.
Ouch That Hertz! 