Al Nicol :: Only Hoping
“I went on a cosmic journey making this album. It started out as me full of doubt in Montreal, transformed in Durham, expanded in Joshua Tree, and settled in Nashville.”
Born in Montreal, Québec, now based in East Nashville, Tennessee, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and Canadian-German-based musician Al Nicol (Alex Nicol), not to be confused with the American actor and director from such films as Tarzan (1966), and The Twilight Zone episode "Young Man's Fancy" (1962), or the drummer from the Arizona-based rock outfit Green on Red Alex Mac Nicol (Alex Francisco MacNicol). But the soothingly sophisticated songstress, whose poetic power is parallel to the likes of Jackson C. Frank, and Neil Young, to name a few. While sprawling across the lush landscapes of lyrical legitimacy and the delicate regions of Middle Tennessee, Nicol has carefully connected to something that only he knows the atmospheric answers to. His most recent effort, “Only Hoping,” without a doubt, is his most eclectic, eager, and exciting body of work yet. And while this is just the tip of the iceberg, whose poetic peak pierces the Atlantic Ocean in the east, his story is a tonal testament to the elemental embrace of managing the melodic magic found within. Softly sharing those soothing harmonies, Earth-shattering falsettos, and instrumental control with his growing audience is what ultimately bridges the gap from one era to the next for Nicol’s ongoing search for sonic spirituality in contemporary songwriting. From his homeland in Montreal to the Research Triangle in North Carolina, and across the US, where the ancient alchemy of our ancestors dwelled under Joshua Tree’s astronomy academia, Nicol eventually settled in Nashville, bringing along with him his vibrant vision from a quest that has truly unfolded into an incredible body of work.
“It was a mystical experience making the record because there were so many moments that felt out of body, serendipitous, or somehow fated,” says Nicol about the chemistry of the album in relation to the ongoing narrative of life that soulfully surrounds the sounds contained within its waxy whispers and holy harmonies. Teaming up with the great MC Taylor (Hiss Golden Messenger) and several Carolina collaborators, “Only Hoping” is a breathtaking manifesto that bravely bends around chiseled corners and worldly walls to gratefully greet anyone who may be leaning against its brittle bones with eyes focused straight ahead. Across the album’s 10 tracks, a sentimental mood emerges from the distance, whose melody and memory are combined in the most romantic and folk-driven courtship since the days of old. Featuring tracks like “Missing You,” “You and Me (ft. Erin Rae)”, “Father Time,” and the album’s epic title track, which features the complex charisma of Taylor, Nicol has successfully struck gold, and there’s no sign of rain or politics from a teething prospector to slow him down.
