Singer-songwriter Nadia Hulett of NADINE speaks in questions, and when she references her notes for single “Ultra Pink,” stuff gets heady.
“When I look back at some of my notes for ‘Ultra Pink’ I see phrases like this: Your voice the driving force/Do you hear what you are saying?/Do you mean what you are saying?/Ultra pink: A state of mind/Do you think before you speak?/Do you think?/Are you alert?/Are you aware?/Are you encouraging your friends?/Do you believe in yourself?”
Call it philosophical, call it pretentious, call it whatever — but when infused into a pop song, the poetry gets textural. Melted with notes of sprightly keyboard “Ultra Pink” preps the mood for the group’s album oh my, out last Friday (January 26) via Father/Daughter Records.
“These are lines I played around with including, but ended up honing in on some other mantras,” Hulett adds of her notes. “You have to feel good about yourself to do good, or at least to do the best good you can. You can’t be running on empty. All of these lines are about presence. You can get right with yourself if you have presence. You can see how beautiful you are and explore possibilities if you just slow down — leave the past where it is and stop projecting your fears into the future.
The existentialism expands and shrinks like a vapor as the album progresses; “Plinth” furrows deeper into abstraction with ceaseless inquiries, while “Not My Kinda Movie” digs its heels into blissed-out smooth jazz piano. Oh my overflows as a mental handful, but presents a sensory overload of pleated beats and sonic valleys worth melting your mind into.
“This is how you will transform — and right now we all need transformation,” says Hulett of the album.
Space out in full below.
Featured photo by Jimmy Magliozzi.