Jeb Loy Nichols, the UK-based, Wyoming-born artist and songsmith, is releasing an intimate 6-song EP, SEASON OF DECLINE. Nichols’ brand of smoky retro-soul has gained him a fervent cult following over the past two decades. The EP’s stripped-down, intimate recordings play like musical conversations featuring his Beat poet-like musings.
Nichols discovered southern soul when he was a teenager. From there it was off to NYC and hip-hop, then on to London and reggae and dancehall. It’s this potent mix of genres that’s since been his signature. Nichols moved to a remote smallholding in the Welsh hills in the ‘80s; this rural lifestyle is mirrored in his approach to music and the art that graces his album covers and self-made videos and collages.
This new six-song EP of original songs will be released digitally via Compass on June 19. All songs, guitar and lead vocals are by Jeb, with additional instruments and backing vocals by Julian Moore and Sophie Moore. It was recorded at Prairie studio in London.
You can watch his video for the title track below which isn’t short of some life lessons…not least “you’ve got to take it easy in the season of decline”.
I wrote the song during what I thought was a period of impermanence until I realised that every day, every minute, is a time of impermanence. Living as I do, on a remote ten acres in Wales, I’m reminded every day that nothing stays the same. Seasons, squirrels, trees, water; it’s all leaning toward its own end. The Season Of Decline is a permanent state. And there’s nothing wrong or bad about it. It’s the way it is. It’s the bittersweet knowledge that everything passes, an acceptance of the ephemeral nature of beauty.
Jeb Loy Nichols
The high priest of country cool.
Rolling Stone
Pre-order Season of Decline here: https://compassrecords.lnk.to/seasonofdeclineEM
The more you read about Nichol’s the more you come to like – This joining-of-the-dots between genres seemingly unrelated to the casual novice has won Jeb high regard from clued up heads but has also contributed to his occupying a nebulous space within pigeonhole happy, popular music. He has steadfastly ploughed his own furrow, navigating a route around mainstream recognition, at times over rocky terrain. Take a listen to some of his Folk favourites in this playlist he put together for Folk Radio in 2016 here.
https://www.jebloynichols.co.uk/