Nicole Atkins and Jim Sclavunos may have worked together before, the Bad Seeds drummer contributing to his compatriot’s songs and even earning a writing credit or two along the way, but – with an album of duets on the horizon – this is the duo’s first tour in tandem.
“Come closer,” Atkins beckons with a smile. “I showered today, just for you.” A relief to hear, given that tonight is the penultimate show of a multi-date UK run and conditions are best described as horrifically humid. Remarkably, Sclavunos’ suit jacket lasts four songs until he finally concedes defeat to clamminess, removing it only to reveal a waistcoat beneath. Atkins’ shimmering purple frock, meanwhile, has understandably attracted attention in the less than glamorous context of Womanby Street (some wag making mention of Shirley Bassey) and only goes to underline that the pair are never knowingly underdressed.
The first half of the set – performed with a stripped-down backing band consisting only of Davey Horne on keys – revolves around the New Jersey singer-songwriter’s solo material, which inhabits a similar space to the classic Americana of Angel Olsen’s latest LP Big Time. AM Gold from 2020’s Italian Ice, in particular, showcases the warmth that her bluesy soul vocals can bring to even the sourest of songs; “I’m like the Nostradamus of shittiness,” she laughs, noting how, six years since it was written, everything has come true. Even better is the grand drama of A Little Crazy, which soundtracks a slow-dancing competition, the winners walking away with Atkins’ drawing of herself waltzing with Ted Danson (“As you can see, I spent most of the time on Ted”).
When Sclavunos swings his mic up to his mouth, they move seamlessly into the forthcoming co-written material. “We once lied to Willie Nelson’s people that we were a Nancy and Lee cover act to get on the bill,” Atkins confesses – and you can easily see how they might have been fooled. These aren’t quite murder ballads, but Nick Cave would be nodding his approval at the slinky and salacious noir groove of A Man Like Me.
Most poignant is a song about memory loss that evidently comes from a painful personal place, but the best is saved for last in the form of a phenomenal cover of Tom Waits’ Strange Weather that enables them to role-play Nick and Kylie, Sclavunos stepping out from behind his kit so that he and Atkins can stand side by side to deliver a smouldering duet directly to each other, before turning eyes on the audience. The heat and humidity in the room crank up another few notches.
Nicole Atkins & Jim Sclavunos, Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, Sat 10 June
words and photos BEN WOOLHEAD