Recently we came across the fascinating indie folk/alt country music of Miami musician Nicolas Mencia who uses the moniker ‘Nick County’.
Having listened to Mencia’s latest album, A Colorful Corner of Northeastern Pennsylvania, more than a half dozen times at this point, it is convincingly one of the best folk/alt. country rock albums of 2021 most people never heard of.
Mencia’s amazing recording is a collection of 13 wonderfully-written and composed tracks featuring soaring violins (“Jesus is Dead”); the cheerful piano keys on the sentimental “Going Back” (which reminds us of Kurt Vile); the upbeat melodies and unforgettable rhythym of “Stormtown”, not to mention the heartbreaking ballad, “Your Pain Tears Me Apart.”
Unlike his previous two albums, Mencia added indie pop and folk influences on his record as songs like “Stormtown” so vividly demonstrate.
Colorful was released on Public Works Department Records which Mencia co-founded. Based in Miami he considers his fellow artists on the label as his best friends who subordinate musical genre to the pursuit of songwriting.
Americana-UK writer Lyndon Bolton wrote: “‘Daddy’s Robe’ is a vivid insight into a tragic life with intense arrangements that just hold together. ’Dreamland Hotel’ has a very Brit feel, The Kinks come to mind as [Mencia] duets with his principal collaborator, Rick Moon, daring each other into oblivion: But I’ll buy the champagne/ We can toast to your pain/ Sign your name on the line and we’ll have a good time.
Mencia’s range of styles, genres and emotions is quite impressive and no doubt one of his strongest skills, a good second to his remarkable songwriting abilities.
A number of mixed-genre acoustic numbers include the sing-along “O Sailor” and the two minute and fifteen second number “Whiter Than A Ghost,” not to mention the touchingly beautiful “Prayer For You” as well as the provocative “John Silver.” Thankfully, Mencia saved one of his acoustic gems, “Denny’s Dream,” for the closing track. Nice!
When Mencia lost his father in 2019, there was a “rush of pain and profound sadness” that levelled anything he thought he had known. The fact that the two had been estranged for many years only compounded Mencia’s sense of loss.
With these emotions also came a “deep desire to reconcile” not only with his “fathers ghost,” but also the small town where Mencia grew up, and his lapsed relationship with god.
A ‘journeyman songwriter’ and a self-described ‘lifelong student of country music hailing from little havana,’ Mencia’s second album, Cocorico Simpatico Corazon, was a family affair.
He recorded in Miami and LA with a collection of old compadres and played with bands such as Gemma, Vampire Weekend, Krisp, Rick Moon, Jacuzzi Boys, and Jeff The Brotherhood.
Mencia lists his top musical influences as Hank Williams, Lucinda Williams, Neko Case, Townes Van Zandt, among others.
instagram.com/nickcounty