One Hit Wondering – Anna Nalick

One Hit Wondering is a series of columns where I listen to the album of a one hit wonder, and find three songs, other than the hit, that people should hear. 

In 2004 the era of the highly choreographed pop star was nearing its conclusion, and for young artists musicianship and songwriting were being given more weight. It was in November of that year that we first heard a then 20 year old Anna Nalick, and her debut single, “Breathe (2 AM).”

Beautifully poetic, and remarkably mature considering she wrote it when she was just a teenager, “Breathe (2 AM)” tells three different stories of struggle, with the final verse being about Nalick herself performing. The overarching theme of the song is the message that no matter what we’re going through, we should take a moment to, as the chorus states, just breathe.

“Breathe (2 AM)” took its time to gain momentum, finally making its mark when it was rereleased in the spring of 2005 in conjunction with the release of Nalick’s debut album, Wreck of the Day. The song spent 34 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, but, strangely, never made it into the Top 40, peaking at #45, which put it in unique company, as it equaled Ricky Martin’s 1998 World Cup anthem “The Cup of Life” for spending the most weeks in the Hot 100 without cracking the Top 40, with Martin’s song, coincidentally, also peaking at #45.

While Martin had the world’s largest soccer tournament buoying his song’s success, “Breathe (2 AM)” took its own path, reaching #4 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and being ever-present in pop culture, appearing on the TV shows Grey’s Anatomy, and One Tree Hill. All of this helped the song go triple platinum (3 million copies sold), and become one of the most memorable hits of the year.

The circuitous route her debut single took to popularity probably didn’t phase Nalick, as the California native grew up in a family that could tell her a thing or two about the ups and downs of the entertainment world.

In a 2006 interview with FYE (repurposed on a livejournal site), it was noted that her grandparents not only toured with the Marx Brothers, but also danced alongside Fred Astaire. How’s that for some credibility!

Nalick had an interest in music early on, and was writing her own songs by the time she was in high school, using her childhood Rainbow Brite tape recorder as her studio.

Take THAT, giant recording studio!

She also didn’t limit herself musically. In an archived interview via PopEntertainment from 2005, she noted that while in high school she was in a metal band, a ska band, and a Rush cover band, but admitted she was only in the latter for a few shows. 

I gotta say, with that early resume, I would love to flip through Nalick’s record collection, because I have a feeling it’s pretty fantastic.

Although she decided to attend college before pursuing music, it was a chance meeting while in college that would lead her to focus on songs rather than studies.

A photography professor had a student with parents in the music industry, and Nalick was encouraged to pass along her demo. The demo was well received, and she quickly found herself in the company of Christopher Thorn and Brad Smith of Blind Melon, who had become a production team, and Tori Amos producer Eric Rosse.

Nalick signed with Columbia in October of 2003, with “Breathe (2 AM)” following 13 months later, and Wreck of the Day being released on April 19th, 2005.

Life became very different at that point for Nalick. College took a temporary backseat to touring with Rob Thomas, and The Wallflowers.

“Breathe (2 AM)” was so big for so long that a follow up single, “In the Rough” wasn’t released until October of 2005. Unfortunately, “In the Rough” never made it out of the rough, and the title track, which was released as the third single in 2006, didn’t make an impact, either.

Her record label, however, clearly believed in her, because in that same year Wreck of the Day, on its way to going gold (500k copies sold), was given the expanded edition treatment with a re-release that included more songs, and new cover art.

After a considerable amount of time on the road, Nalick took a much-needed break, with her next project, an EP titled Shine not being released until March of 2008. A bridge between Wreck of the Day, and what she was working on next, it featured the title track, along with acoustic renditions of “Breathe (2 AM),” and “Wreck of the Day,” as well as an acoustic version of “Shine,” and an acoustic cover of the Red Hot Chili Peppers song “Breaking the Girl.”

Once again, I want to see Anna Nalick’s record collection!

The hope for Nalick was that her second full-length album, which was to be titled Broken Doll, would be released that summer, but the music industry was going through an upheaval in 2008 with the transition to digital music. As always when record labels go through major changes, a plethora of artists end up being lost in the shuffle.

Nalick revealed to Billboard in 2018, that there was a new president at her label every nine months, and each one had a different idea for what they wanted from her sophomore album. This led to Broken Doll being shelved multiple times, and she told Billboard, “At a certain point I realized that so much time had gone by as we were trying to define what my style would be, and I was starting to lose my center as an artist.”

She finally left Columbia/Sony in either late 2009, or early 2010 (sources vary on the exact date), and in the summer of 2010 she announced via her Facebook page (which has since been deactivated) that she had founded her own label, Nyctograph Records.

Having complete creative control, Broken Doll became Broken Doll & Odds & Ends, and the self-funded album was released via Nyctograph in June of 2011. It included a cover of the Siouxsie and the Banshees classic “Kiss Them for Me.”

And for a third time I will say – Anna Nalick, show me your record collection!

After Broken Doll & Odds & Ends, Nalick returned to school to finish her degree, and was absent from music until 2014, when, she revealed in the aforementioned Billboard interview, “My bass player, who was also my tour manager, approached me after four years of not putting any music out, and not touring, and he was the one that really gave me a hard nudge to go back to sharing my music with people.”

At the time Nalick was also going through a divorce, so perhaps her bass player figured music, and performing, could also have some healing qualities.

Touring sparked Nalick’s desire to record again, and in October of 2015 she launched a PledgeMusic campaign to fund her third full-length album, At Now.

The campaign found plenty of support from fans, and the album ended up being released to backers on October 18th, 2017, with the rest of the world being able to pick it up the following day.

Two years later, in 2019, Nalick was approached by Chesky Records with a radically unique idea – record an entire live album in one day … and do it in a decommissioned church in Brooklyn, NY.

She jumped at the chance, putting together a collection of covers that spanned a century of music, with each song exploring the passage of time.

In all, 18 songs, 12 of which were chosen for the album, were recorded over the course of the marathon 11 hour recording session.

Titled The Blackest Crow, the album was released in December of 2019. It’s currently the last music we’ve heard from Nalick.

Nalick’s website says a tour is “on hold until fall of 2022,” which leads me to believe it’s been a while since she’s updated things over there. That said, she has two Instagram accounts, one of which, @anna_nalickmusic, is mostly photos of gardening glory, but features a recent photo of her being newly engaged (congrats Anna!).

Her secondary Instagram, @excusemepleaseisthisseattaken, shows Nalick has a wonderfully quirky hobby – she takes photos of seating left on the side of the road. Really, I’m not kidding. She’s been doing it since 2013! Sofas, love seats, desk chairs, if someone once sat in it, and left it at the curb, she photographs it. Occasionally she’ll even make an appearance in the photo with the seating!

While that’s a different concept of a Wreck of the Day, I went back to Nalick’s debut album, and found three songs, other than “Breathe (2 AM),” that you should hear.

“Wreck of the Day”

The title track of the album, “Wreck of the Day” probably should’ve been the follow up to “Breathe (2 AM),” rather than the third single, released nearly two years after the fact. A melancholy tune about a relationship fraught with constant turmoil, much like her debut single it’s poetic, and featured a maturity that belied Nalick’s age.

Her vocals, songwriting skills, and emotion filled delivery, are absolutely stunning.

“Forever Love (Digame)”

A gorgeous song about treading the line between life and death, and wanting to stay alive, and hear the voice of a loved one expressing how they feel, “Forever Love (Digame)” was another deeply emotional tune, which seems to be Nalick’s wheelhouse.

The feeling of the song can change greatly depending on what you’re going through in life. It can make you cry, or it can make you feel comforted.

Truly incredible.

“Consider This”

“Consider This” is bouncier (that bass line!), and more rock influenced fare then the other songs I’ve mentioned, but thanks to her background in just about every genre of music, Nalick absolutely crushes it. This song shows her ability to do just about anything, and write for just about any genre.

You can’t box in Anna Nalick!

Until next time, here’s to discovering more great music from one hit wonders! 

If you liked this article, check out the book – One Hit Wondering: The Stories of 40 One Hit Wonders + Other Tales From The Crates. Available now!