Nocturnal Blonde - Still Gushing
NOCTURNAL BLONDE DROP CAPTIVATING ‘STILL GUSHING’
Athens, Georgia indie-rock outfit Nocturnal Blonde just dropped a new album, called Still Gushing, a collection of 12-tracks.
Nocturnal Blonde | Photo: Rachel Renee Levasseur
Made up of Rachel Adams (vocals), Ritchie Williams (vocals, guitar), Kevin Sims (bass), and James Owen (percussion), Nocturnal Blonde began life as a project to focus attention on the pervasive plague of opioids. Guitarist Ritchie Williams almost lost his brother, Dave, to an incidental opiate-related overdose. Dave prevailed, but was left with enduring neurological damage.
Once the project was underway, Ritchie realized he needed a talented lead singer to inject the band’s music with life. By chance, he found Rachel Adams, who soon became part of the lineup. Three months later, Nocturnal Blonde dropped their debut EP, Smart Heart, which reaped rave reviews.
According to Ritchie, “The positive press reviews of Smart Heart and positive feedback from my brother was so encouraging that I had to keep the project alive. The next step was to share the whole story, and hopefully touch someone who’s struggling with similar issues, with our LP, Still Gushing.”
Adams’ voice, silky and delicately evocative, imbues the tune with sublime tenderness.
Still Gushing begins with “Smart Heart,” opening on a thumping kick-drum topped by delicious vocal harmonies, performed a cappella save for the percussive accompaniment, until a vibrating guitar enters, adding tight accents.
Entry points on the album include “Blown Away,” full of shimmering colors oozing creamy bluesy flavors, as Adams’ marvelous voice infuses the tune with stark secluded pigments, smooth yet penetrating. “Ricochet” opens on elongated stuttering guitars riding a syncopated beat, and then flows into a velvety undulating melody, full of gorgeous crying colors.
“All Those Angels” blends sinuous alt-rock flavors with scrumptiously streaming dream-pop savors. The song is short but exquisitely beautiful. “Almost An Angel” is another magnificent song, traveling on SoCal alt-country hues, rife with weeping guitars and tantalizing washes of gleaming aromas. Adams’ voice, silky and delicately evocative, imbues the tune with sublime tenderness.
The title track features a potently strumming guitar crowned by the brilliantly harmonizing voices of Ritchie Williams and Adams.
Still Gushing is excellent, amalgamating tasty harmonics, delightful rhythmic pulses, poignant lyrics, and the heavenly tones of Rachel Adams.
