Nicole Atkins is set to unveil her forthcoming album, Drama, next month. The veteran of the retro pop revival has already issued the tracks “When The Night Falls” and “Singing In The Mirror,” and now she returns with the opulent, solitary album starter, “Trippin’ On Teardrops.”
“After wrestling with what this song wanted to become for a while, I had the chorus. Like an SOS,” Atkins told Flood. She continued:
During a Nashville writing session, my longtime pal Peter Morén from Peter Bjorn and John was visiting, and I played him this chorus, which he loved, and I began jotting down the verse lines that I thought I’d replace because they sounded pitiful, but that was simply the state of my life at the time. Lonely and dreaming and wishing things could be different. The person I missed most was myself, but sometimes a good friend can shine a light to help you push through it.
I wrote “Trippin’ On Teardrops” during a lengthy spell with insane sleep issues. Never being able to fall asleep and then waking up after two days of wakefulness. It felt like a nightmare I couldn’t wake from. Burnout? Maybe. Depression? Largely because of sleep issues. And it happened at a moment when the world carried on as usual and I watched it all go by in my dreams.
When it came time to make the video, Caleb Herring, Sun Records’ exceptional cameraman, flew up to the Jersey shore while I was visiting family. We had two days to figure something out, and my high school friend offered access to this estate he was looking after that is now owned by the NJ Parks system. Dating back to the early 1900s, it boasted a multitude of stunning rooms, bathing tunnels, grounds, etc. It also housed all these fishing trophies left behind, so an idea quickly formed… A glamorous woman wakes up in her gorgeous estate, and as you follow her day, you realize that her seemingly perfect life isn’t all it seems when your only company is the dead and waxed fishes on the walls.
Watch below.
Drama is out 9/28 on Wicked Game/Sun.
