Nico Hedley-the Queens-based alt-country singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist-has shared the stunning third and final single from his upcoming debut album Painterly, out Sep. 3 on Whatever's Clever.
On "Something To Make," Hedley draws listeners into his profound world of heartbreak, doubt, and a desire to do better. Gentle countrypolitan and high lonesome tendencies weave with twangy indie-folk on this mid-tempo cruiser about self sabotage and love lost, featuring Ryan El-Solh on guitar, Adam Robinson on tenor sax, Carmen Rothwell on double bass, Alena Spanger (Tiny Hazard) on backing vocals, and Jeff Widner on drums.
Hedley didn't exactly know he was a songwriter when he began writing Painterly. The songs erupted from him, and it was as if he had to chase them as they emerged. Written after a break-up that was almost too difficult for Hedley to reckon with, Painterly takes a deeper look into personal loss, miscommunications, and self-centeredness, through songs that are direct and plaintive with darkly humorous undertones and a unique kind of emotional charge. The album offers up a kind of cubist take on what Hedley calls "achy breaky" country that parallels the impermanence of easy conclusions in his lyrics. In the world of Painterly, there is no respite from moving forward-often, away from others-in that constant attempt to re-access something within ourselves that always seems in danger of being lost.
"Something To Make" follows "Waking Dreams" (featuring Drew Citron of Beverly) and "Tennessee," the album's gently off-kilter opening track that was written spontaneously, at the start of a tour, after Hedley witnessed the members of his band hug their partners goodbye.
Painterly is out Sep. 3 on Whatever's Clever.
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