Nicki Jaine: Of Pigeons and Other Curiosities (Digital)

Product Description

Nicki Jaine has been described by those who love her music as “Marlene Deitrich & Nico meet Tim Burton”.


“[Nicki Jaine’s] voice and myth echo each other in a most profound way and you find yourself with a strange feeling, like having a spider crawling in your stomach creating a mixture of fear and eroticism. It is at once creepy and wonderful.” – Origivation Magazine March 2004


“…tastefully twisted tales of life, love and all things bizarre…Nicki Jaine is thinking and performing on another plane…one of the most unique talents I have seen in years…” – The Two River Times October 2003


Nicki Jaine’s music could be a soundtrack to a Roaring Twenties gothic cabaret-if there was such a thing. She is blessed/possessed with a voice which some fans describe as eerie & captivating in a Marlene Deitrich & Nico meet Tim Burton kind of way. On the surface, Jaine’s songs are stark, uncluttered melodies accompanied by her beautiful, alto vocals. Just below that, lies a nightmarish flow of images involving pigeons, all-knowing octopi, animals crawling, journeys to Antartica, and beautiful disasters sung by a young woman whose chilling voice echos with a tinge of madness to it. Nicki Jaine is all of these things, and for that, we should be even more fearful for her and for the listener who happens across her new release “of pigeons and other curiosities”.


Nicki Jaine’s love for music began at an early age. When she was 7 years old, she won a singing competition held by various churches in her hometown of Asbury Park, New Jersey. Around this time, Nicki suffered a traumatizing experience while trick-or-treating at Bruce Springsteen’s house. That fateful Halloween night marked the end of a young girl singing in churches and the beginning of the Nicki Jaine we know today.


Jaine’s grandmother started her on the path of songwriting by giving her a guitar for her 14th birthday. In the years to follow, Jaine performed at open mic nights in Red Bank, New Jersey. More recently, she began playing piano and now the instrument is an integral part of her devilishly playful sound.


In 2000, Nicki Jaine moved to Philadelphia for a taste of the city life. She continued playing coffeehouses and open mic nights for the next year. In 2001, Nicki Jaine attended the Philadelphia Music Conference and meeting industry people and musicians like herself truly inspired Jaine. At that moment, she made the decision to devote her life to crafting music. Her hard work paid off and the first recognition of the new Nicki Jaine was a nomination for Best Female Solo Performer at the 2001 Asbury Park Music Awards (She was also nominated for the same award in 2002 and 2003).


In the summer of 2002, local Philadelphia goth/industrial band Carfax Abbey took notice of Nicki Jaine and invited her to open up for them at Club Nostradamus in Philadelphia. This was her first official show as well as her introduction to the goth circle. Although Jaine plays many gothic events, her music is almost non-genre, and she fits in well with many types of artists.


Nicki Jaine cast a spell on quite a few people in 2003, playing shows in the tri state area as well as along the East Coast with Ego Likeness, The Dresden Dolls, Unto Ashes, Anathema Device and Carfax Abbey. Jaine was written about in publications such as The Aquarian, The Two River Times, Songwriters Monthly, and NJCoast.com. For a young artist without any releases, that is quite an accomplishment.


By now, Nicki Jaine had assembled a full band and called them Torn Paper Dolls. The four-piece band immediately gained attention by opening for The Empire Hideous at CBGB. Torn Paper Dolls did not last long, but they did release one demo and landed several prestigious gigs, including 2 shows opening for Projekt Records’ artist, Voltaire.


Now that “of pigeons and other curiosities” has been released on the new label, Shaman Records, Nicki Jaine has reached another one of her goals. Jaine is currently planning her summer performances, working on new material and, at all costs, avoiding the Springsteen residence on holidays.


Nicki Jaine is a most bewitching artist and you will fall under her spell if you not careful. And that is not a bad thing, by any means.

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“Of Pigeons and Other Curiosities” is a dark cabaret of odd lyrics and sparse instrumentation. Nicki’s voice and refined lyrical approach are the focal points here and rightfully so as that is definitely the strong suit of this album. Piano and acoustic guitar are the predominate instruments, with some drums thrown in to break any monotony that may have occurred. I hate to use the word “cabaret” when describing this music but I just can’t escape it. Its part cabaret and part artsy lounge music, full of starts and stops and dark imagery reflecting life’s harsher side.” – 1340mag.com


“This post-gothic vocal album from the talented Nicki Jaine balances full band arrangements (“Octopi”, “Antarctica”, etc.) with solo pieces (“Animals Crawling”, “Sound of Girls”, etc.). Her rich, deep voice suggesting mezzo and contralto territories fits excellently her dark topics on this album that lends true artistry to the gothic style.” – Outsight Communications


“The dark gothic stories she tells are well worded and you can listen to her songs in the dark and have some rather vivid images indeed. Not the usual hard rock, heavy metal fare we love here but something hauntingly and provocatively different indeed.” – Rocknet Webzine


“If The Dresden Dolls are a kind of twisted poppy pre-WW2 dark cabaret then Nicki Jaine is the cabaret for after the bombs have dropped and the “subversive” artistic elements are being rounded up and yet the show must go on. This is a cabaret for the broken and Jaine does a great job of using that fuel for her songs.” – wildhunt.org

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