Rolling Stone Nick Hakim, Roy Nathanson, and Creating Community During Covid
The duo seamlessly blend R&B, jazz, and dreamy pop on their collaborative album
Small Things, recorded and mastered just as the world was locking down
By Zora Sicher
If you listen closely, you can hear the subtle sounds of sirens in the background of “Small Things 2,” the final track on Nick Hakim and Roy Nathanson’s collaborative album,
Small Things. Much of the album was recorded before Covid shut down the music industry, but Hakim and Nathanson weren’t happy with a few of the takes, so they had to settle for collaborating over a distance, even though they lived a few miles apart in Brooklyn.
“Awaken, My Love!”
+ the “Taxi Driver” theme
Neo-soul music artist Nick Hakim and multi-reedist Roy Nathanson channel a blend of both terrestrial and cosmic inspirations on
Small Things, their first collaborative album. The partnership is unexpected, aside from the fact that the artists met through and have both performed with the elusive New York City-based jazz ensemble
Onyx Collective in the past.
Small Things is the first album to be released on Onyx Collective’s new record label NYXO, and promisingly so.
Eclectic and romantic,
Small Things is reminiscent of Hakim’s debut,
Green Twins (2017), and is a passionate tribute to Nathanson’s instrument. “She was speaking to the saxophone / In an intimate way / All because she recognized that the saxophone / Is a kindred spirit,” Hakim sings on the title track, carefully, as if waking someone from a deep sleep. Lo-fi vocals and staccato woodwind give way to a mellow drum beat and the result is transporti
Radio K :: Nick Hakim & Roy Nathanson radiok.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from radiok.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
New Music Reviews (4/19) KEXP
Each week, Music Director Don Yates (joined this week by DJs Alex, Abbie, and Gabriel Teodros) shares brief insights on new and upcoming releases for KEXP s rotation. These reviews help our DJs decide on what they want to play. See what we added this week below (and on our Charts page), including new releases from
Jupiter & Okwess,
Na Kozonga (Everloving)
The latest release from this Congolese band led by Jupiter Bokondji is an impressive, energetic set of various Congolese styles inflected with funk, rock and more, combining fiery electric guitars, percolating rhythms, call-and-response vocals and hypnotic song hooks. The album’s special guests include Ana Tijoux and Preservation Hall Jazz Band. DY
Adrian Spinelli April 15, 2021Updated: April 15, 2021, 11:54 am
Sharon Van Etten performs at the Treasure Island Music Festival in Oakland in 2018. Photo: Gabrielle Lurie, The Chronicle
The Chronicle’s guide to notable new music.
NEW ALBUMS
Paul McCartney, “III Imagined” (Capitol)
In December, McCartney released the stripped-down solo release “III,” which he produced and recorded during what he called the “rockdown” period in his Sussex farmhouse studio.
Now, in yet another display of his timeless creative spark, he has curated a cast of artists to cover and reimagine cuts from that album for the new “III Imagined.” He clearly has an ear for today’s best artists, as the 12 songs include versions by the multitalented rapper Anderson .Paak, world soul trio Khruangbin, Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn, indie rocker Phoebe Bridgers, art pop multi-instrumentalist Blood Orange and R&B rapper Dominic Fike. Others, like St. Vincent’s rework of “Women