Back in February we introduced Near Divine or Merely Rhyme, the forthcoming album from Kingston, NY-based songwriter Nic Panken. The record might be the debut solo full-length for Panken, who you may recognise as the lead of Brooklyn folk outfit Spirit Family Reunion, though in reality the release is rooted in collaboration. He enlisted an enviable ensemble of guests to make the songs a reality, with Mat Davidson (Big Thief, Twain), Ken Woodward (Buck Meek, Sam Evian), Austin Vaughn (Cassandra Jenkins, Cass McCombs), David Christian (Karen O, Curtis Harding) and more all lending their talents. It’s fair to say the album makes good on such a stellar line up.
‘Dear Companion’ offered proof, what we called an “earthy warm” track which sees “the arrangement wrapping around Panken’s reflective, wistful vocals and elevating the cryptic lyricism into something stirring.” Or the early single ‘Delightful Dust’, which takes a similar style but adds an extra old-time charm. Indeed, Panken’s lyricism takes inspiration from the wistful playfulness of his forebears, with an almost John Prine sensibility to this tale featuring rocket ships and ant colonies, which shows he is able to include brightness and humour without undercutting the emotion at its heart.
With the release of Near Divine little under a month away, Nic Panken has returned with brand new single, ‘2 Hearts’, and the song is no less sincere or endearing. An compassionate number which takes the image of its title further than you might expect, pushing the love song beyond romance and into something existential. The arrangement rises to match the ambition of these thematic concerns, offering the most expansive sound on the album to date while preserving the intimacy so key to its identity. “When this melody first took shape I thought I would write a romantic love song, but the scope broadened,” Panken explained. “I was thinking about how we come into this world already knowing two heartbeats, and our lives often seem guided by the quest for that fleeting feeling, whether it be with a lover, a friend, a work of art… It can be euphoric, disorienting, frightening and empowering, and I wanted the song to convey the wide spectrum of this perpetual cycle.”
Two hearts, two hearts
Beating as the river starts
Time will tear this veil apart
And lead me back to you
