Nicole Simone - Circles
From her apartment roof, Nicole Simone can see the Chateau Marmont, where the lights are always on. That view inspired “Chateau,” one of three standout singles from Circles, the Toronto-born artist’s first full-length album. Now splitting her time between Toronto and Los Angeles, Simone releases the record via Soul Spazm.
Listen on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/album/2VFevDsuBYIcb0IsbW5aWG
Simone made the record through the LA wildfires, evacuating with her dog Indie and spending a month in Arizona, unsure where home was. "I think the thread connecting these songs is liminality, people, relationships and places that exist somewhere between arriving and leaving," she says. London, Barcelona and LA all become characters along the way.
"Circles" was the first song she wrote after deciding to make the album, at her kitchen counter, inspired by eclectic conversations with a reality star whose ex-wife was publicly trashing him online. "Calling the album Circles ultimately felt appropriate because making my first full-length record brought me full circle as an artist," she says. "It felt less like reinventing myself and more like coming home to myself."
"Suit Undone" recalls a Hollywood Hills adventure with a stranger and slips in a nod to Crowded House. "Chateau" is her homage to Interpol and The Strokes, "the band I never got to have growing up."
Producer Billy Lefler's live drumming gives the record its raw edge, tracked at Death Star Records alongside vintage guitars and synths. Indie, an Australian Cattle Dog rescued through the charity Simone founded, Redemption Paws, was in the booth for every session and passed away the week the album came out. "She's all over the record too," Simone says.
Check Simone on Bandcamp here: https://latejuly.bandcamp.com/
Away from music, Simone is an award-winning filmmaker behind the series 'ON A LIST,' a writer featured in Reader's Digest and the founder of Redemption Paws, a rescue charity that has saved more than 4,000 dogs and helped change Canadian federal law for animals. She has built her independent career while living with a rare, life altering disability.
"If I had to explain Circles now, I'd say it's the most important piece of art I've ever made," she says. All the lights are still on at the Chateau, and Nicole Simone has found her way home back to Canada.
