Nick Waterhouse Makes Retro R&B Feel Newly Dangerous on “Holly”
Psst! Allow us to introduce you — or reintroduce you — to Nick Waterhouse and the wonderfully lived-in swagger of “Holly.”
Waterhouse has always understood that vintage rhythm and blues does not have to feel trapped behind glass. His music pulls from ’50s and ’60s R&B, soul, jazz and rock ’n’ roll, then gives the whole thing enough grit, looseness and personality to keep it from turning into costume-party nostalgia.
“Holly,” the title track from his second studio album, is exactly that kind of record: storytelling up front, juke-joint horns in the room, and a groove that feels older than it is without pretending to be some museum-piece recreation.
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Nick Waterhouse: Holly Live on KEXP
Nick Waterhouse takes vintage R&B, soul and rock ’n’ roll language and makes it feel lived-in rather than borrowed — especially once the horns and full KEXP band lock into place.
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The KEXP Session Gave “Holly” Exactly the Room It Needed
Waterhouse returned to KEXP in 2014 with a full ensemble behind him, including two saxophonists, piano, bass and additional vocals. KEXP described the performance as a meeting point between classic and reimagined jazz and R&B — which is pretty much Waterhouse’s sweet spot.
The session was recorded on March 11, 2014 and featured four songs: “Dead Room,” “High Tiding,” “Sleepin’ Pills” and “Holly.” Rather than sanding the songs down for a radio-studio appearance, the band lets them breathe, swing and occasionally get just a little unruly.
This Is Retro Without the Dust
There is an easy trap with music this rooted in older sounds: everything can become too tasteful, too polished, too determined to prove that somebody owns the right records. Waterhouse largely avoids that. The horns bark, the rhythm section moves, and his cool stays just loose enough to feel human.
That is what makes “Holly” worth digging back out. You can hear the lineage immediately, but the performance is not asking you to admire the references. It wants you to move.
Nick Waterhouse Live on KEXP in Images
All images below are frames from Waterhouse’s 2014 Live on KEXP session.
Dig it out, turn it up, and let those horns do the persuading.
Watch Nick Waterhouse Perform “Holly” Live on KEXP
“Holly” was one of four songs Waterhouse performed during the KEXP studio session recorded on March 11, 2014.
Source: KEXP / Live on KEXP.
