Nicole Atkins & Jim Sclavunos

The Voodoo Rooms
Tues 30th May, 2023

Every now and then, Damo, The Mumble editor, drops into my inbox a tasty opportunity to investigate tantalising musicianship, such as Nicole Atkins & Jim Sclavunos, a combination of talents that instantly excited me. Two artists that have duly earned their Rock N Roll stripes.

Starting out in NY’s infamous No Wave scene playing bass with Teenage Jesus & The Jerks in 1978, Jim Sclavunos carved out a distinctive reputation for himself as a drummer. Recording with Sonic Youth and The Cramps before joining Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds in 1994, he also co-founded Grinderman and his own solo project The Vanity Set. An in-demand producer (The Horrors, Gogol Bordello, Fat White Family, Dublonde, Polly Scattergood) and remixer (Depeche Mode, Grinderman, Phillip Glass), he also hosts a monthly show on Soho Radio.

Fresh off her opening slot for Stevie Nicks, Nicole will join Jim in the UK for a series of live dates kicking off in Edinburgh on 30th May. Audiences can expect an intimate evening of songs from Nicole’s latest LP ‘Italian Ice’, along with well-loved favourites, plus the debut of new songs from Nicole and Jim’s upcoming duets album.

A study in contrasts, Nicole Atkins and Jim Sclavunos make music that is a perfect synthesis of their eclectic tastes and backgrounds. With uptempo krautrock grooves sitting alongside deconstructed sambas, space-rock confessionals and wistful ballads, the pair’s songs evoke thumbnail intimacies in vast empty spaces.

The Band
Nicole Atkins: vocals, guitar, percussion
Jim Sclavunos: vocals, drums
Davey Horne: keyboards
Tom Sansbury: bass guitar
Jabo Jablonka: guitar

Davey Horne opened proceedings of tonight’s hotly anticipated Gig at the Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh, a handsome musician from Fife with a blistering set of pipes treated us with a short set of torch songs, sung with a voice not far removed from that of Bowie and with a keyboard playing style that was reminiscent of Mike Garson, Davey also doubles as the keyboard player for tonight’s headliners Jim Sclavunos and Nicole Atkins. Warming up the excited audience perfectly for this first night of a British tour to celebrate the release of the duo’s new single “Strange Weather” A taster of the duo’s forthcoming new album which at this stage is still a work in progress. Indeed this tour is a testing ground for the new songs to breathe and come to life some of which were airing for the first time to a live audience.

Both Nicole and Jim have a striking presence as they take to the stage, it’s not every day that one gets the chance to take in the playing style of a Bad Seed up close, Jim is accustomed to performing with Nick Cave in massive arenas globally, this is one of the reasons that tonight’s performance in a glamorous and intimate Voodoo Rooms was such a scoop. Nicole Atkins originates from her native New Jersey and has been working with Jim to create musical magik since 2014’s brilliant long player “Slow Phaser,” along with 2020’s much heralded by the music press “Italian Ice” which gained 5-star reviews. However, promoting this live was thwarted by the Plandemic. So the second scoop of tonight’s performance is that some of the songs performed gained their first airing in a British venue. Indeed these are just a few reasons why tonight’s gig was so special. Nicole has an amazing voice, reminiscent of classic 60’s soul, born of struggle and overcoming addiction, sober since 2006. (Bravo). A Torch songstress whose flame burns brighter with her excellent choice of supporting musicians. As this tour progresses so will the band. The collective chemistry is nothing less than spellbinding. As you can guess both myself and Raymond were both in awe of how brilliant this was.

The Set List
Neptune City.
AM Gold,
Brokedown Luck,
Never Going Home,
Captain, Walking,
Feign,
Take Aim & Shoot,
Goodnight Rhonda Lee,
War Torn,
Maybe Tonight,
Domino,
Mind Eraser,
Serious Drinking,
Man Like Me,
Statue,
Memories Come And Go,
A Little Crazy,
Strange Weather.