NYC Scene Report – Women of the Night, Nick Vivid, & Local Nomad

This week’s NYC Scene Report features Women of the Night going “Stir Crazy,” Nick Vivid not accepting any “Hush Money,” and Local Nomad taking it back to his 20s with “On and On.”

* The first thing you’ll notice about Brooklyn-based duo Women of the Night is that they aren’t women, but don’t let that make you go “Stir Crazy,” instead check out their recently released single, “Stir Crazy.”

“Stir Crazy” is off Women of the Night’s sophomore album, Sub Rosa, which frontman Jordan D’Arsie discussed the creation of in a statement, saying, “I noticed my songwriting, and the voices within the stories were often flickering between a sinister voice, and a much lighter and optimistic voice. As the album began to come together, I started to imagine it as its own space, and almost as if there were two parallel planes – what is spoken of in the light of day, and what is spoken of in the night, or simply put, Sub Rosa.”

On “Stir Crazy” D’Arsie’s vocals are reminiscent of Jakob Dylan’s, but with a darker vibe – that sinisterness he mentioned embracing at times.

Click play on the video. If you’re anything like me, you’ll go crazy over “Stir Crazy.”

* Some people love trying to take shortcuts in life, but NYC-based indie electronic funk artist Nick Vivid sees that path as one that’s bad for the soul. He breaks down his ideology, and the reasoning behind it, on his recently released song “Hush Money (Straight to the Bribe).”

“I have to make choices about who I am gonna be, and what I’m gonna be about … and live with the consequence of those choices,” Vivid said in a statement, “The ‘bribe’ in the song is the alluring ‘shortcut’ to the fake ‘easier’ solution, but for me, that doesn't work. I’ve tried.”

“Hush Money (Straight to the Bribe)” is off Vivid’s upcoming album No More Secrets, due out November 12th via MegaPlatinum Records, with an album release party set to take place at Brooklyn’s All Night Skate the following night.

The thought of rollerskating may bring you back to your youth, and the lyric video for “Hush Money (Straight to the Bribe)” is in a similar vein, as it features Nick Vivid at just six years old playing the drums. “It seemed like my future self was giving my six-year-old self an ominous warning about my future,” he says, “‘Hey kid, you have no idea what you are in for.’”

What you’ll be in for when you click play on the video is three minutes of a funky jam.

* Long Island native Local Nomad, which is the performance moniker of singer-songwriter Michael Desmond, waited a long time to release his latest single, “On and On,” and if it wasn’t for the influence of two very important people in his life, it might’ve never seen the light of day.

An indie-pop song about pushing through all the chaos life, “On and On” was originally written ten years ago for Desmond’s former band, Gabriel the Marine. He explained the song’s reemergence in a statement, saying, “My father, and my old manager Eddie Levy, convinced me to reimagine, and produce it.”

Desmond continued, adding, “It’s hard to describe what I was feeling when I wrote this song because I was 19. I used to write a lot of songs based purely on instinct, but if I had to put a meaning to it I’d have to say this song is about trying to make it as a band in your early 20s. We made a lot of mistakes. We were young kids when we used to tour in a beat up Ford Econoline Club Wagon, and now that I’m older the song takes on a whole new meaning. It still feels pretty damn good.”

It also sounds pretty damned good. Click play, and check it out.

For more of the best of NYC’s indie music scene, come back next Wednesday, and check out the archives for previous columns.