If I asked you to imagine a night of clubbing, you'd probably think of fluorescent strobe lights, pounding beats, and the faint smell of sweat. But what if there were someone on the music scene looking to shake up the ubiquitous and seemingly age-old perception of club culture? Electronic pop artist Nicky Elisabeth announces her mission right up front: "bringing romance back to the dance floor."
Despite its tender façade, this goal entails no small amount of heavy lifting, like pulling together magnets of the same charge. But Nicky Elisabeth makes it look easy: the right blend of vocals and instrumentals, the just-so mix of dance-able beats and poignant lyrics, plus somehow keeping her personal life in harmony too. In this interview, the artist discusses her latest album, out today on 20th September, aptly titled The Way of Love, translating sound to image, and how she finds empowerment within herself.
Hi Nicky! How are you today? What's your schedule like for this week?
Hey there! All good here, thanks for asking!
I just got back home after my US tour. I’ve played some Anjunadeep Open Air shows in New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Currently I’m back in the studio working on new stuff and some club mixes of album tracks!
You play at a variety of different venues, from clubbing capitals to more intimate settings. How do you adjust your set depending on where you're playing?
I always try to envision the space I’ll be playing at and select tracks that I think would work there. Some tracks just don’t do well on big systems, and others are perfect for smaller rooms. It has a lot to do with the choice of sounds, the production and the mixdown. For example, I made a remix of Cri’s Astray and when I listen to this track and close my eyes, I always see a big festival stage. There is a lot of reverb, noisy synths and a huge buildup towards the drop. It just sounds big in every possible way, so naturally I would only play it in the appropriate environment.
Are you more of a party rat or a homebody?
I’d say I’m very much both. I do love a good party, but really need time on my own to recharge my batteries.
I was really drawn to the album art for The Lights, in which you're washed in this diffuse, golden light. Could you tell me more about the thought process behind the photos for the album?
Thank you! I always feel that my tracks do have a certain colour to them. So, for the singles we identified these different colours and had photos taken accordingly. In all the photos, I’m portrayed in a bit more of an abstract matter, as all the songs are just a small fragment of a bigger story. For the full album art, you can see me in full light, as the whole story is laid out in front of you.
There's a lot of reference to light in the song titles — The Lights, Dusk, Shining, Dawn, Fading. How does light tie into your music?
I’d say my music is highly emotive and things such as light and colour are ways for me to visually describe what I’m trying to tell audibly. Dusk for example, brings up a completely different feeling than Dawn. So, I guess it’s just a natural way of expression for me.
You write that your summer single The Lights is an "anthem of personal empowerment." How do you capture that musically?
It’s very hard for me to describe, as I will often just sit behind the piano or my laptop, and just write. And whenever what I write moves me, I know I’m on the right track. My best music has been written when there was the least amount of thinking involved.
It’s all about how a situation moves me, and then trying to represent it as true to me as possible. I think it’s the same with painters, when they recreate a memory or paint a landscape; it’s not always an actual representation of what they experience, but more how they experience it.
What are some ways that you try to empower yourself?
I think the most important thing I do to empower myself is to try and reflect on my thoughts and feelings. This might seem a bit vague, but most of what we experience is not about the actual experience, but more about how we relate to that experience.
It’s very easy for the mind to wander off and start assuming this role of a non-stop live commentator on your life, which also easily becomes quite negative. When I start noticing this, I always try to focus on appreciating all the good things in my life, and within no time I’ll start feeling better.
How do you find the right balance for your vocals within your music?
This is always a difficult one as it’s always a trade-off. The more vocals you add, the less clubby a track will sound, but on the other hand, I am a songwriter at heart. I think it’s all about identifying what space the track is for and making sure that it fits that space. So, for example, if I wrote a song that points more into the direction of a club anthem, I’m not going to add loads of vocals. If on the other hand, I wrote something that could work nicely for radio, I might want to add another verse or chorus.
I know it’s soon, but are you already working on anything post-album that you could maybe share with us?
I’m actually working on a lot of new music already! Of which some will hopefully be finished in the next month or so. Next to that, I’ve been DJ’ing quite a lot with Hana and Qrion, and we’re planning on getting into the studio together very soon.