Nicolas Rixon - Nicky Go Home
Review by Karl Magi
Overall Album Impressions
Nicolas Rixon’s “Nicky Go Home" is a lyrical and emotional journey that travels through a wonderfully listenable mixture of musical energies and eras. The way in which Nicolas Rixon combines his superb vocal performances with thoughtful, intriguing songwriting and musical backing that draws influences from disco, Broadway and Motown with stops along the way for new wave synth-pop, creates music that is full of life and passion as the album unfolds.
Without Nicolas Rixon's flexible, emotive voice, “Nicky Go Home" wouldn't be as intensely enjoyable as it is. His performances range from sensitive gentleness to absolutely vibrant joy as he roams across the musical landscape he’s created. His voice can be calming and smooth or exploding with excitement and all of these different moods are adapted to suit his songs with excellent results.
Another crucial aspect of “Nicky Go Home" is the songwriting itself. Nicolas Rixon writes songs that are moving, fascinating and occasionally enigmatic. His writing is confident and full of first-rate images and expressive wording. I enjoy the way in which he explores love, loss and life with the unique written voice that he possesses. I also want to mention how much I enjoy his inclusion of some classics from the Great American Songbook, given his fresh interpretations.
The music that backs his writing and singing is full of nods to a plethora of different genres and eras. I'm particularly enamored of the overall disco feeling that fills the album, but I also appreciate the way Broadway show tunes are woven together with Motown vibes and a large dash of soul music. The musicianship is first-rate which, when combined with the melodies that Nicolas Rixon has written, results in tunes that are hard to put down because of the compulsive listenability created by the mixture of sounds within them.
My Favourite Tracks Analyzed
“Nicky Go Home” leaps into life with a jaunty drum beat and a pop-inflected synth that bounces in energetic motion. A disco beat creates a swinging feeling as Nicolas Rixon’s voice slides sensually while the guitar intertwines with a groovy flicker. The chorus is infectious as the low end makes my hips swing and the incredibly catchy lyrics capture a playful vibe.
I enjoy the bounce and swagger of the vocals while a twangy synth creates a chilled-out, retro vibe and the strings add their own joyful sensations. The lyrics are carried by Nicolas Rixon’s distinctive performance and joined by a guitar that flies upward with iridescent energy. The melody spills out uplifting feelings as it calls out on a soaring guitar while the groovy underlayer closes the song.
“I remember the times I couldn't look in the mirror, with my eyes drawn wide, everything the same colour.” Our narrator isn't saying that it won't happen again, but what that “it” was, well, it definitely wasn't. He follows this up by telling himself to go home.
While the storyteller is being pursued, he becomes the pursuer and “both shaken and stirred, I dive to the rock bed.” He adds, “Bottoms up! Cin cin!” pointing out that a mouthful of “Doctor Says Vitamin Sea” is better than vodka.
“Now I have a job to do before it's made redundant”, as our narrator says his engine roars up against the hillside. He continues by saying, “Blow by blow out your candle,” wishing himself a happy birthday as he can feel “my cells, my neurons try to make new paths into the future.”
Under those circumstances, the storyteller concludes that’s when “I can't sleep for fear of a feeling,” as he decides that it's better to leave it up to time to say goodbye, then.
Melancholy chimes sing with a wistful melody and a trumpet line explodes with brilliant energy as “Magic” opens. The brass section cries out with a disco feeling while the pumping low end and tambourine create a late ’70s sensation. Nicolas Rixon’s voice is exuberant and expressive while the guitar flickers and the underpinnings press forward with dynamic strength. The way in which the chiming notes and the guitar intertwine creates a leaping and speedy melodic line while the soulful performance carries the chorus along.
I enjoy the way in which the track unfolds with its mixture of different retro eras while the guitar interlocks with a synth in luminous joy. Chimes sparkle while the actively skipping drums move and the chorus cascades with enchanting, seductive energy. The classic underlayer creates a steady heartbeat while glimmering chimes cry out with unabashed excitement and the guitar leaps again along with the erupting chorus before the track slides to an end.
“Bad luck is a red line, there's no other way of going back,” and the narrator says that people tell him he imagines the things that he feels, so “don't become a target.” He adds that when he touches, “the cracks appear upon the only door into the world,” as he sees his future, standing on uneven terrain, before tumbling into the abyss.
“Tell me a secret over again” is what our storyteller requests of the song’s subject before asking them to “give me your potion, kiss me a spell.” He goes on to say that it's magic. He continues, “Good luck is a lifeline, losing fingernails in ebony,” while pointing out that he has the look of Dorian Gray “when my smile’s a picture.”
In conclusion, the narrator asks, “Cut me, do I not bleed like a rubber tree?” He goes on to say, “When I forgive you, don't bounce my better nature against your wall, ’cause I may not come back at all.”
“You Don’t Owe Me” commences as the song settles into a laid-back groove. Lambent trumpets move with a bluesy guitar, singing out with a punchy dynamism while Nicolas Rixon’s captivatingly earnest performance carries a soulful depth. Percussion slides while the swirling brass blurs with jazzy luminosity.
As the chorus erupts, Nicolas Rixon punches the vocals with conviction and force while the guitar locks into a calming pattern. A radiant synth glows while the tambourine adds a Motown feeling as the guitar intertwines. I enjoy the way in which Nicolas Rixon dives into this song and carries me along with emotion. The song ends as the horns pulse with coruscating brightness and the percussion fades away.
Finding that “when you're little in your life, things get confused,” our storyteller says he didn’t realize his heart would get badly used, whatever he says or does. He adds that the song’s subject is “in the same boat, going nowhere,” so his heart starts to sing that “you don't owe me here, you don't owe me there, you don't owe me anything at all,” nor does the other person owe him life or death.
The narrator adds that “by that very same token I withdrew from the cave all alone into the blue.” Whatever he did and wherever he went with the song’s subject, “what I was seeing, well it wasn't true,” as the birds start to say and the narrator concludes, “do what you do to survive, do what you can if you can.”
“Mystic Blue” begins after an elevated, trembling introduction flies into a dynamic disco beat. The guitar has a gritty energy as the bass creates a funky rhythm and the drums snap cleanly. The piano and strings intermingle with sugary warmth while Nicolas Rixon's softly slipping voice enfolds the music with feeling and affection.
The low end cruises with a disco boogie while the guitar cuts cleanly, radiant and energetic. After a string hit, the underpinnings flow on and the drums pop with sharp strength. Minor-key strings slide with silken gentleness while the dance-floor-filling underlayer moves forward.
Sensations of loss and hope mingle in Nicolas Rixon's ear-pleasing vocals while the guitar and elevated synth radiate laid-back luminosity. I enjoy the accents of the guitar and the synth as it leaps with inspiring emotion. The interlocking rhythm and strings create touching sensations while the groovy drums and bass continue to move forward. The strings intermingle with a sweet feeling and the song ends.
Resolving that he'll never say goodbye, the narrator speaks of a “feeling that lingers in the air like a perfume” or yesterday’s flowers sitting on a shelf and “blooming for us under bright days.” With their final breath, their hearts have become twin flames, “reflecting the double-light of both our souls.” They are like fraternal twins with “the burning torches of our mirrored sins.”
Our storyteller says “tonight is made of mystic, a final flash from me and you” in mystic blue. Although they've said goodbye, he'll still be crying out for the song’s subject. He repeats that he'll never say goodbye and adds, “when I leave, I will leave the door ajar,” because there's an angel coming to bring them “faith and joy.” He says that angel has “come to reclaim the broken mirrors and the dying flames.”
Now the narrator pictures the other person hiking down a mountain “in a moment with somebody else.” He hears the person speak in their usual voice, but they don't sound like themselves any longer. “You crumble with the revelation, another god comes crashing down,” and he goes on to say he'd love to see the ruins because “it’s there our Moses would drown.”
When he and the song’s subject can't talk any longer, he says, “I will write down the things I cannot say,” because all of the emotions created something like a pearl and his heart is “a message in a bottle to the world.”
A melody that twirls with a certain haunted grace, along with a throbbing drum beat, starts off “Eternal Secret.” A whirling melody is supported by a loping beat and piano that dances with Nicolas Rixon's gripping voice and a tambourine adds another swinging element as the guitar and synth slice with sharp edges. Nicolas Rixon's performance is gutsy while a crazily swaying melody bursts with glittering light. The way in which Nicolas Rixon delivers his vocals is fresh and fun.
The underpinnings add guidance as soaring vocals climb up over the razor-sharp guitar and a synth shines. The piano carries a melody full of wistful and broken feeling while the vocals glide with ghostly sensations and the piano continues to shine along with radiant strings. As the song ends, the tambourine, along with the drums and bass, continues to swirl before the track closes with the cleanly slicing melody spiraling into silence.
Our narrator sees a man through the trees who is 21 or 22 and he says, “he's younger than me, but I follow him because I'm blue.” He asks to be taken away from the beech trees and says, “come to open my arms into a cross.” The narrator adds that “he's naturally a mystery, I'll never forget him, but fuck city lights!” He knows that “the hill and the thorn are my home.”
Time has passed and now the storyteller sees “a man in the street of 31 or 32” who is younger than him and they walk together because the storyteller is blue. He wants to be taken away from the taxis and adds, “come to open my arms into the past.” The other person is “empirical, a miracle,” and the storyteller will never forget him. He says, “to hell with city lights! The yes and the no are my home.”
To conclude, our narrator says, “it was escape in reverse, it was a reverse in escape. I was carrying something eternal, something I never thought I could show.”
“I Wanna Be Loved By You” starts with a piano melody full of exuberance and Nicolas Rixon captures the joyful essence of the song. I enjoy the insouciant, saucy quality of Nicolas Rixon's voice and the jazz guitar soaring with uplifting energy. Nicolas Rixon has a teasing and fun-loving approach to the performance which is addictive.
The campy way in which it is performed is charming and enjoyable while the piano speeds up with an accelerating beat and excitement spills from the music. Vivacious energy erupts from the guitar as the rhythm rushes and the track takes on a more modern groove. The track comes to an end with a total sense of celebration and affection.
The storyteller wants to be loved and kissed by the song’s subject and no one else. He’s chasing intimacy and devotion with sincere whimsy. Despite the lighthearted tone, nothing matters more than being with the other person and making them their own.
A slow-burning groove moves with muscled bass and a tinkling note pattern as the jazz organ carries a bittersweet melody to begin “Rupture in the Mirror.” Nicolas Rixon's performance is dramatic and full of shadow and sublimated rage while the disco underlayer creates a supporting pulse. Nicolas Rixon's flexible voice takes hold of the vocals, imbuing them with anger and a realization that came too late in a way that I find impressive.
The strings slip with caressing energy while a foundational heartbeat grooves. The guitar lacerates while Nicolas Rixon's voice has a cutting quality. The way in which the low end pumps contrasts with the enigmatic organ melody. A laser-like synth sings out, refulgent and full of unsettled emotion.
Underneath, the groove rides in the pocket while the vocals rise with piercing strength. The guitar curls through the music with expressive intensity and the song ends.
After having seen another face in his mirror, the narrator finds himself alone because his other persona is so “fucking jealous” that he should have known. The other persona attempts to tell him that they don’t want to fight, “when how you're treating me, we know it's not right.”
Poised to hate our storyteller, one of his alter egos waits “for one false move,” as our storyteller adds that “when my mother died, you were all so unkind.” He realizes that he wouldn’t have taken that path if he’d had a map, adding that “I gotta navigate the future while I'm caught up in the past.”
Aware of the power of what he faces, he understands that “it often rides with love, but when the stakes are high, they really drip with blood.”
“Moon River” opens with an exuberant disco beat and strings dancing with pleasure and happiness. The guitar pulses as Nicolas Rixon captures the sweetness of the original while the strings gleam with uplifting light. I find the classic disco sounds ear-pleasing while the track bursts with positivity and encouragement.
Nicolas Rixon's performance is enchanting while the actively guiding percussion moves with the strings that unfold with graceful emotion. The disco feeling suits the music while the timeless melody fills the song with a sense of completion and the vocals slip with gentle emotion. The locked-in low end has a steady throb while the string section caresses my ears with wonderful warmth and the track dances to a close with active percussion pulsing.
The song follows two kindred spirits drifting through life together, chasing dreams and possibilities, united by wanderlust. Our storyteller has a quiet hope to move forward with his companion toward an unknown but beautiful future.
Conclusion
“Nicky Go Home” is full of vibrant energy, marvelous vocal performances and songwriting that explores all of the complexities of being oneself in a messy world. I enjoy this album because it draws me into Nicolas Rixon's world in an individual and dynamic way.
