Nicole Atkins returns with Drama her first all-new full-length release in over six years. The album is being released via Sun Records / Wicked Game Records on Friday, September 18. Pre-orders/pre-saves are available now. The acclaimed singer-songwriter's seventh studio album is heralded by the premiere of the first single, "When the Night Falls," available everywhere now. An official music video, filmed in Nashville and conceived by Atkins and the Sun team, is streaming now on YouTube.
“I got together with my old friend Emery Dobyns to write a song together,” said Nicole Atkins. “We had these chords, and the feeling from the music reminded me of something I would’ve written for my first album, Neptune City, and I thought about where I was back then. The toxic love affair. And tying it into who and where I am now, and being able to write a song about terrible love from a place of power. Some would call it growth. I’m just still in love with the ‘sound’ of heartache. It gets me like no other.”
Drama is available for pre-order / pre-save here.
Largely recorded live over four productive days in her current home base of Nashville, TN, with GRAMMY® Award-nominated musician/producer Pat Sansone (Wilco, The Autumn Defense, Robyn Hitchcock), Drama sees Atkins exploring the isolation, separation, and loneliness of a long-distance marriage through her signature fusion of musical genres and intimate lyrical songcraft. The album came together at the behest of her close friend and touring partner Chris Isaak, who signed her to Sun Records as part of his strategic alliance with the historic label as both artist and curator of new projects with his new imprint, Wicked Game Records.
Drama spans style and era with smart design and an irrepressible buoyancy, from the girl group rush of “Trippin' On Teardrops” and Memphis soul-styled “For No One” to the James Bond-meets-Stevie Nicks noir of “Danny” and the wonderfully moody duet with Isaak, “Cue The Symphony.”
“I’ve been in love with Nicole’s songs for many years and have always followed her career,” says Chris Isaak. “She and I are so simpatico when it comes to the music that inspires us, and she has a unique way of distilling that into her songwriting. She’s a true craftsman and an incredible singer. When it came time to start the label, she was my first thought. I’m so honored that she’s the label’s first signing, and I love Drama!”
Accompanied by her touring band, guitarist John Paul Keith and drummer Danny Banks, with contributions by Sansone, in-demand drummer Eric Slick (Dr. Dog, Robyn Hitchcock, Brian Fallon), The Texas Gentlemen’s Dan Creamer, and Scottish troubadour Davey Horne, Atkins once again showcases her alchemical ability to transform myriad influences into singular sonic statements, leaning into the deeply personal in her ongoing quest to “write modern songs that could be part of the Great American Songbook.” Through it all, Atkins’s vivid, unabashedly dramatic voice flies far above easy comparison. Neo-classicist, retro-futurist, and transcendental medium – Drama makes it plain that Nicole Atkins somehow remains all of those things while always wholeheartedly following her own muse.
“I'm not trying to rehash or celebrate some bygone era,” Nicole Atkins says. “I'm just taking what I like melodically from the past and channeling it into my songs. I like to make them deeply personal. The question I come back to is – how do I make this sound exactly like me?”
Atkins will celebrate the arrival of Drama with a wide-ranging tour schedule, including a top-billed performance as part of Bethlehem, PA’s annual Musikfest, set for Air Products Americaplatz at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks on Sunday, August 2. Her Fall tour begins October 9 at Columbus, OH’s Rumba Cafe and continues through to Skinny Dennis in Nashville, TN on December 3.
Hailed by NPR for “a voice that could melt the heart of a devil and a sense of humor dryer than a drought,” Nicole Atkins has long proven a critically acclaimed international favorite for her vivid vocal power and committed spirit of timeless songcraft. The New Jersey-born, Nashville-based singer-songwriter has created a truly unique body of work all her own, spanning her iconic 2007 debut, Neptune City, through 2020’s acclaimed fifth studio album, Italian Ice, the latter of which drew praise for its lyrical warmth, vibrant color, and a tilt-a-whirl variety of musical grooves. A gifted live performer known for what avowed fan Elvis Costello enthusiastically called “some serious singing,” Atkins has spent much of the past two decades traveling the world’s stages as headliner, featured performer, and special guest to a wide array of similarly minded artists spanning Spoon, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Chris Isaak, the Hives, the Avett Brothers, and many more.
Established in 1952 by Sam Phillips, Sun Records is renowned for discovering music legends including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis. The label moved to Nashville in 1969, where it continued to cultivate acclaimed artists such as Jeannie C. Riley, The Dixie Cups, Linda Martell, and many others.
Today, as part of the Sun Label Group under Primary Wave, Sun Records continues to foster musical innovation while honoring its rich legacy, with a frontline roster that includes Ruthie Foster, Robert Randolph, The SteelDrivers, and The Waterboys. Ruthie Foster’s 2025 GRAMMY win for Mileage marked the first in Sun Records history, followed by Robert Randolph’s 2026 win for Preacher Kids, the label’s second.
NICOLE ATKINS - TOUR 2026
AUGUST
2 - Bethlehem, PA - Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks
OCTOBER
9 - Columbus, OH - Rumba Cafe
10 - Louisville, KY - Whirling Tiger
11 - Indianapolis, IN - HIFI
NOVEMBER
13 - Columbia, MO - Rose Music Hall
14 - Kansas City, MO - Record Bar
15 - Omaha, NE - Reverb Lounge
17 - St. Paul, MN - Turf Club
18 - Milwaukee, WI - Vivarium
20 - Grand Rapids, MI - Pyramid Scheme
21 - Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig
22 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland
24 - Albany NY - Lark Hall
25 - Hamden, CT - Space Ballroom
27 - Asbury Park, NJ - Wonder Bar
28 - Annapolis, MD - Rams Head
29 - Richmond, VA - Richmond Music Hall
DECEMBER
1 - Charlotte, NC - Snug Harbor
2 - Asheville, NC - Revival
3 - Nashville, TN - Skinny Dennis
