- Bryon Harris
Nicole Hale - 'Colors of the Day'
Nicole Hale is a singer-songwriter from the southwest region. Hale’s music offers a combination of blues and soul with a folk edge giving her song a warm and welcoming timbre. “Colors of the Day,” off of her album, House with the Little Rose Garden, has a four-piece band featuring Nicole Hale (vocal,keyboard), Bob Hoag (drums,percussion,keyboard) Brennan Smiley (guitar), Nat Theobald (bass).
The song starts off with a brief piano arrangement followed by the entrance of drums and bass. As Hale enters the first verse she sings, “I go down to the water where I met you. I go down with my loneliness astray.”
Hale's voice is silky smooth, warm and inviting. Her voice has character, the kind of character required to sing soulful blues.
This song is about loneliness, about remembering a past love, remembering their warmth and the brightness that shined from within. Hale's lyrics are intimate, "Even when it's dark, I can feel your arms around me. A warmth that holds true through the still of the night. So many lives in the world in which we live in. But you shine through with the colors of the day. Hale songwriting comes off as very natural and that innate quality to her music combined with her down-to-earth/warm voice and honest lyrics creates a music experience that is universally appealing.
There is something about simplicity that many songwriters take for granted, but simplicity in itself can be sophisticated and Nicole Hale shows that she understands this by implementing the most raw and basic emotions - loneliness, memory, yearning - and the simple and beautiful metaphors found in nature like going down to the water or the still of the night or the colors of the day - and these elements found in her music are timeless and moving. In the chorus, Hale repeats the phrase, “You shine through with the colors of the day.” The chorus is strong and memorable. Finally, Hale got the production and mix just right.
In "Colors of the Day," Nicole Hale's songwriting ability and vocal beauty shine through...like the colors of the day with warmth and light. “Colors of the Day” is a prime example of her talent, yielding a touching, memorable experience that will leave you wanting more of Hale’s music. For more information on Hale’s performance whereabouts, visit her website or Bandcamp.