Released early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, Nicole Atkins' soulful fifth album, Italian Ice, was recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio with backing players that included, among others, members of the Dap-Kings, Avett Brothers, and the classic Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section itself. Plans to tour the spirited new songs were thwarted as venues were forced to close performance spaces, and Atkins ended up running a subscription-based online variety show out of her attic. Eventually, her broadcasts moved to the Paramount Theater in Asbury Park in her native New Jersey. Adjusting to working with fewer musicians and recalling the vintage live performances of legendary vocalists like Judy Garland and Dean Martin, Atkins decided to cut an album where she made her already retro-minded Italian Ice songs sound like old standards. Recorded live in a single day at Memphis Magnetic Recording Co., Memphis Ice sees Atkins rework nine of the 11 songs from Italian Ice alongside one original, with the acoustic trio of pianist Dan Chen, violinist Laura Epling, and cellist Maggie Chaffee. In true "an evening with" form, these stripped-back versions put all the focus on Atkins' vocal interpretations, losing very little if anything in the way of intrigue in the process. A song like opener "Captain," a lap steel-accompanied ballad featuring Spoon's Britt Daniel that was relatively low-key to begin with, is still transformed on Memphis Ice, removing vocal effects and reducing accompaniment to simple rhythm piano and languid string countermelodies. It elicits the image of Atkins on a smoky dinner club stage with a mike in one hand and the other leaning on the piano lid. This impression is sustained throughout the album, even on songs like the theatrical "St. Dymphna," whose soaring melody is only amplified here, and the rocker "A Road to Nowhere," a showcase for vocal dynamics. In addition to Atkins' raw vocal ability, Memphis Ice also lays bare songcraft that, like any tunes worth their salt, holds up to minimalist treatments. The acoustic rendition of "Promised Land," a song recorded for Italian Ice that didn't make the final album, fits in seamlessly here, with its dismayed narrator pushing through crowds in New York City on her way to try to cut her losses. ~ Marcy Donelson, Rovi

1		Captain
2		Mind Eraser
3		St. Dymphna
4		Domino
5		A Road to Nowhere
6		Forever
7		These Old Roses
8		Far From Home
9		Promised Land
10		In the Splinters

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