Trad-modern bluesy soul.
Contemporary old-fashioned soulful blues. Twenty-first century Stax meets NOLA funk. Stick your own label on it, but this debut
album from Danielle Nicole is an impressive affair.
Previously Ms Nicole, aka Danielle Nicole Schnebelen of
Kansas City, plied her bass and vocal skills with her two brothers in the band
Trampled Under Foot. Now stepping out on
her own, she’s recruited New Orleans based guitarist/producer Anders Osborne to
helm her first outing, and to co-write most of the material with her. Osborne is a new name to me but, with a
workaholic resume redolent of Luther Dickinson (who also puts in an appearance
The sleek, eye-catching cover illustration sets the tone,
and it’s confirmed by the title track, on which bursts of organ and a rolling
bass line revolve around throbbing, heavily treated guitar lines to provide a
laid-back underpinning for Nicole’s immediately impressive voice. It’s a controlled but slick opener, with
added sparkle provided by a sparse, shivering guitar solo – catch a live version on her website.
In fact guitar contributions are neat but relatively
restrained throughout, with the focus more on the songs and the arrangements as
a frame for Nicole’s gutsy, swooping, soulful vocals. Whether it’s the Sixties soul of ‘How You
Gonna Do Me Like That’, all handclaps and girl harmonies, the ‘La Bamba’-esque
rhythms of ‘You Only Need Me When You’re Down’, or the pleading torch song of
‘Just Give Me Tonight’, she lives up to the top quality foundations that have
been built for her. And when a female
singer puts you in mind of Etta James, as Nicole does on ‘Take It All’, you
have to sit up and take notice.
Not all the songs may be 5-star belters, but you’ll wait in
vain for a deflating dud. There’s enough
in the Big Easy vibe of ‘Easin’ Into The Night’, for example, to maintain the
momentum ahead of the stomping rocker ‘Didn’t Do You No Good’, which lives up
to the Zepp-ish lettering on the cover.
A cover of the Annie Peebles classic ‘I Feel Like Breaking
Up Somebody’s Home’ has Nicole giving it plenty to demonstrate her
connectedness to the roots of her soul sound.
‘In My Dreams’ takes funky drum patterns, mixes in some boogie-woogie
piano undertones, and shows Nicole in more playful mode, sounding like she’s
having fun.
Big thumbs up to all concerned for Wolf Den. Danielle Nicole is
out of the blocks with a bang.
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