Germany’s Dream Pop Cinematic Duo NICK & JUNE Premiere Session Video of ‘Anything but Time’
“Nuremberg duo Nick & June seduce listeners into their own private world – one of beauty, mystery, romance, and intrigue. Beach Baby, Baby contains a half dozen quiet pop tunes (plus atmospheric intro) based on delicate, silvery melodies that trade as much in sardonicism and melancholy as wistful loveliness… Call it dream pop, or noir rock, or postmodern soft rock, or whatever you like: on Beach Baby, Baby, Nick & June have it down.” – The Big Takeover
“Raw, cinematic upheaval of the heart spilled out in hauntingly emotive alternative sound. Landing somewhere halfway between the indie folk, indie rock, and indie pop.” – Atwood Magazine
Imagine Françoise Hardy if she entered Andy Warhol’s Factory, soundtracked to the lullaby of a forlorn lover, and that is what Nick & June have elegantly captured. – Music Existence
“Anything But Time”, with its atmospheric aura and pearl-drop effects, has the preciousness of auteurs like Wes Anderson in his scene crafting.” – The Indy Review
“The German dream-pop duo of Nick and Suzie-Lou Kraft further this idea by casting a hypnotic early-morning spell with their new single, a hazy daydream joyride flowing with restrained euphoria called “Hugh Grant & His Consequence.” – Vanyaland
“Their EP, Beach Baby, Baby is going to make May feel like summer has arrived.” – Outside Left
Enigmatic Noir-Pop Duo
NICK & JUNE
Premiere Live Session Video for “Anything But Time”
Today via Post-Punk.com
Cinematic, Dreamy New EP Beach Baby, Baby Out Now!
May 17, 2022 (Nuremberg, Germany) – “We have always been inspired by books, movies… and music itself, of course. But this time it was even more special,” says Nick Wolf of Germany’s indie-pop duo NICK & JUNE about their dreamy new EP, Beach Baby, Baby, released independently last Friday, May 12. “We came out of a long break and suddenly we were in the middle of a pandemic. We watched, read, listened to a lot… many classic films, all-time favorites or hidden treasures that we stumbled across. And it all flowed into the EP. Maybe that’s why the overall concept of the EP has a cinematic touch,” he adds.
Today, Post-Punkhas premiered a session video for the single, “Anything but Time,” allowing viewers a glimpse into what Nick & June sound like in performance, expanded to a five-piece band with a live rhythm section.
Built from a series of intriguing singles that showcase different aspects of their artistry — the synth-driven “Anything but Time,” the mysterious and melancholy toned “Hugh Grant & His Consequence“ and the folksy “Manic Pixie Dream Girl,” — Nick & June exhibit a wide world of musical possibilities in a relatively short span of seven songs on Beach Baby, Baby. The EP comes complete with a pair of striking covers (Elvis, Bowie) and a curious introduction that sets the stage, “Bonjour Tristesse,” (in English, “Hello Sadness”), perhaps inspired by the homonymous 1954 Francoise Sagan novel or a French surrealist poem by Paul Éluard, of the same name. The pair likes to keep listeners guessing.
Photo credit: Adelina Millaku
Nick & June cloak their romantic angst in languid, summery tones, illuminating Beach Baby, Baby with blinding light that’ll have you reaching for your Wayfarers. The pair creates a hazy visual sense with atmospheric synth textures and dark reverb guitars, complimented by their hushed vocals drizzled over the top. The tracks flow seamlessly, recalling musical inspirations like Beach House, Belle And Sebastian, Angus and Julia Stone, and Bon Iver along the way.
The way that Nick & June approach a song is never more apparent than on Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Stop Falling In Love” and the EP closer, a retelling of Bowie’s “Starman,” both slowed to become more reflective pieces, allowing the listeners imagination to explore each song’s narrative more deeply and exposing melancholic undercurrents in both cases. “We wanted to write these little, quirky, sad stories of little, quirky, sad people that sometimes say more about us and about our world,” Nick explains of the EP on the whole.
Based in Nuremberg, Germany Nick & June began their career as a duo in 2011 and have thus far released two albums – Flavor & Sin (2013) and My November My (2017). Their uniquely vivid and layered folk stylings have embedded choirs and brass at times, harboring few inhibitions – the pair isn’t afraid to alter musical templates to make them their own. Prior singles “Home Is Where the Heart Hurts, Pt. 1” and “London City, Boy, It’s Killing Me” have become indie hits: over 20 million streams combined, landing them airtime on radio, prime-time TV and even on the big screen in the acclaimed coming-of-age film, About a Girl.
Tracklist
1. Bonjour Tristesse (Intro)
2. Anything But Time
3. Manic Pixie Dream Girl
4. Can’t Help Falling in Love
5. Lip Sync to Love Songs
6. Hugh Grant & His Consequence
7. Starman
Nick & June’s “Anything but Time” video session is out now. Their new EP Beach Baby, Baby was released independently on Friday, May 12th.
