Nicholas Altobelli - Vertigo
Alt-Americana artist Nicholas Altobelli drops a new album today, called Vertigo, on Dalton Records. His first full-length album in four years, many of the songs on Vertigo are songs that, for one reason or another, didn’t find homes on previous albums.
Nicholas Altobelli | Photo: Ash Gongora
Distinct from his prior albums, Without A Home, Searching Through That Minor Key, and the gorgeous Mesocyclone EP, Vertigo incorporates potent elements of Americana while simultaneously holding onto Altobelli’s affinity for California-pop flavors.
After going through an agonizing divorce, Altobelli took a break from music, returning to college to study literature, followed by teaching English at a high school.
Encompassing 11-tracks, Vertigo begins with “Red, White, And Blues,” riding a retro-flavored Americana melody featuring a beautiful piano, glimmering guitar accents, and a tasty contagious rhythmic flow. Altobelli’s appealing nasal tones infuse the tune with a charming vocal flow.
“C’mon tell me what I got to do / So I can stay in love with you / Do it right now and I’ll do it for good / We won’t have to look at where we stood.”
Entry points include “Thunderstorms,” traveling on a smooth gentle melody attended by the oozing drawl of an organ and sparkling guitar inflections. The solo section on this track, composed of a crying guitar and the braying organ, is superb.
“Runaway Trains” opens on glowing guitar licks dropping into a SoCal alt-rock-flavored Americana melody full of infectious harmonic layers and a stellar lead guitar. The flowing textures on this track make it a personal favorite. As is “Look Out The Window,” a delicately captivating tune amalgamating restrained pop-lite and hymnal elements into an exquisitely marvelous song.
I love the lyrics to “Tell Me What I Got To Do:”
“C’mon tell me what I got to do / So I can stay in love with you / Do it right now and I’ll do it for good / We won’t have to look at where we stood.”
“Trains” opens on iridescently resonant guitar riffs, drifting like clouds across the sky, followed by a stunningly evocative electric guitar rife with tender wisps of melancholy and nostalgia.
Vertigo is one of those delectable albums you listen to over and over, replete with superlative sonic colors and easy-to-listen-to vocals.
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