Sometimes musicians who write and record together have a chemistry that is undeniable and authentic, and the resulting music has that extra something special that makes listeners sit up and take notice. Husband-and-wife-led band Dwight + Nicole is the perfect example of this type of kismet – when they create music together, something marvellous and magnetic happens. Their new album, “The Jaguar, The Raven & The Snake,” displays this full force, and the group just gave the album the deluxe edition treatment. They’re a little bit bluesy, a little bit R&B/soul driven, with sprinkles of Americana and roots on top and a classic/vintage vibe with rock and even pop touches, making for a genre-bending listening experience of the best sort. We sat down recently with band namesakes Dwight Ritcher and Nicole Nelson to get the lowdown on the album and so much more.
Hi, Dwight + Nicole! You have a terrific new deluxe edition of your album, “The Jaguar, The Raven & The Snake,” that just came out in August. How did these songs come together and what broad strokes can you tell us about the collection?
Dwight: Thank you for listening! The songs came together over a two-year period, with both of us bringing different songs to the table. While there was no collective intent behind the compositions and the lyrics, we did notice that the songs were all about our relationships with each other, between us and our family and friends, as well as observations of our friends’ relationships with others.
What made you want to re-release it in a deluxe edition? How does the new edition differ from the original?
Nicole: The album was first released on the cusp of COVID and at a time when there was a lot of turmoil and loss in our personal lives. We wanted to revisit rolling out the album to give it the attention that we felt it deserved. We added the track “Saying Goodbye.”
Speaking of that song, “Saying Goodbye,” is really great and stood out to me. What can you tell us about this song? What inspired you to write it and what is it about?
Nicole: I wrote the song about saying goodbye to aspects of myself, people, and places that were no longer aligned with the person I was becoming. It’s about letting go of the baggage; aspects that don’t work for you or maybe have been holding you back. This release allows you to move forward in your life.
What was it like recording this album overall? What was the vibe in the studio, and how did this song, in particular, come together?
Dwight: The experience overall was tremendous. The album was actually recorded at two different locations. Most was recorded in New York at Studio G in Brooklyn, and some in Norway at Ocean Sound on this beautiful fjord in Giske. Our producer on the album was Joel Hamilton, and he helped us to focus to get the most of the source material while promoting a relaxed and experimental atmosphere. For example, we used a Swedish pump organ at Ocean Sound on “Angel,” which was something we never would have thought to do on our own.
Nicole: “Saying Goodbye” was recorded at Studio G after the album was first released. We saw it as a bridge between our experiences that underpinned the writing on the album and what our future has in store.
What do you hope this album conveys to those who listen to it?
Nicole: We always release music in an effort to convey hopefulness. It’s important to be present during the tough times, but we can always be resourceful enough to make changes in our lives to move forward.
Since you started out, how has your songwriting changed — both musically and lyrically? Do different things inspire you now? Where do you tend to get your biggest inspiration from these days?
Dwight: We’ve been writing material first as a duo and now for our band for over 10 years. Before that, we both wrote our own material for many more years. Our writing style has matured thanks in large part to Joel’s encouragement to keep at a song until it feels complete. We also started out as a more traditional roots and blues duo and now include other influences such as pop, indie, and alternative rock. This was an organic unplanned and unexpected progression.
Nicole: Our inspirations have changed as our perspectives on life have matured, but we still approach writing open to wherever our inspirations may come from, even if just a scene from a film or a painting.
Dwight: These days, my biggest inspirations come from witnessing other people’s lives.
Nicole: My biggest inspiration is my own self-reflection.
Songwriting can be a really personal endeavor. Is it tough to share that stuff that usually might be private if you weren’t writing a song about it? Does unveiling the songs publicly, when you release a single or an EP or album, make you anxious or is it cathartic to have the songs out there?
Dwight: It can be a painfully honest process that sometimes you have to mask, but it’s a part of the process and what you owe to your fans.
Nicole: Sometimes it’s the blunt truth, sometimes not. It feels great to have them out. We’ve never experienced anxiousness associated with releasing music.
It’s not uncommon for an artist or band to be working on something new while promoting an album. Do you have anything in the pipeline to follow this album? What’s next from Dwight + Nicole?
Nicole: Like I said earlier, we view “Saying Goodbye” as a bridge to our next release. We have a number of new songs we recorded at the same time as “Saying Goodbye.” Those are ready for release, but we want to also include some even newer material, as well as revisit some older, unreleased recordings that may be used as-is or will be rearranged or rerecorded. We also have some covers that we’ve been exploring.
Dwight: We just recorded a live album that we plan to release that was also video-recorded, and we and hope to include that as a part of a future release. But we’re also always writing, and you never know when we’ll come upon something that just needs to be heard.
Got any tour plans? Where can fans see you on the road?
Nicole: We play around New England regularly, but we also want to play live much more often and much more widespread, so we are in the process of seeking a new booking agent with a wider reach.
Website: www.dwightandnicole.com
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