It’s been a good year for Alex Nicol. This spring, he released the Montreal singer/songwriter released his EP Been A Long Year Vol. 1, which featured production from Emmanuel Ethier and Angel Deeradorian of Dirty Projectors and Decisive Pink. Now, he’s turned his focus onto the final piece of the puzzle: Been A Long Year Vol. 2, a continuation of his album-length follow-up to his debut LP All for Nada.
Last month, Nicol put out the twangy, reflective alt-folk ballad “Working On My Tan.” Today’s he’s unveiled second single “Simple Fires,” a harmonious, pensive tune that finds Nicol wielding his tenor vocals with a saccharine acoustic instrumental behind him. A pedal steel aches in the background with a subtle electric six-string. “We all deserve our sculptures shining with the sheen of nature’s most pristine, nutritious fluid,” Nicol sings. “And we won’t say sorry, we won’t write a goodbye.” “Simple Fires” is lush, evocative of Nick Drake and the Avett Brothers under the glow of contemporary cowboy chords and primitive, passionate storytelling inspired by the Canadian wildfires of 2023.
“’Simple Fires’ was originally written about the figurative, metaphorical ways in which the world was burning, but took on greater gravity as ecological destruction and corporate greed literally set the world on fire,” Nicol says of the track. “The song’s languid guitars and softly glimmering strings don’t immediately call to mind the same dark orange hue of wildfire smoke polluting the skies, but the dreamy, impressionistically painted lyrics serve as a fogged window for my overt concerns about environmental collapse.”
Listen to “Simple Fires” below.