Biography

Nico Paulo’s self-titled album opens in a dream. That is, after all, where our experiences gather in vivid fluidity: water, time, flowers, family, love, home, memories. These are the recurring pieces that populate the St. John’s based Portuguese-Canadian artist’s effortless, grounding folk-pop. Like the smaller offerings preceding it, Paulo’s debut album is rooted in intimate, imagistic songwriting wherein relationships (to self, to others, to the wider world) come into focus, brim with passion and occasionally slip away. The magnetic center of the music is her direct vocal work that feels both inviting for its warmth and striking in its power. Recorded in a lakeside cabin on Nova Scotia’s South Shore with producer / percussionist Joshua Van Tassel, and co-production from Tim Baker, Paulo’s unassuming songs are brought brilliantly to life through subtle rhythmic shifts and exquisite arrangements for horns, woodwinds and mellotron. Each piece of a given composition is perfectly considered, hung just so with a gentle shimmer. Each song is played with care by a cast of St. John’s finest players including Adam Hogan (guitar) and Tim Baker (keys), both formerly of Hey Rosetta, Mary Beth Waldram (clarinet), and Steve Maloney (backing vox), as well as Forward head honcho Kyle Cunjak (bass). Paulo has a way of lending heavy themes a buoyancy without sacrificing any emotional impact. nicopaulo.com