Less dolphin ice sculpture. The phrase could be the title of a George Clinton or Frank Zappa song. Instead, it was advice producer Joel Hamilton tossed to Boston-bred duo Dwight & Nicole during a recent recording session.
“If something wasn’t working, he’d say something like that, ‘make it less dolphin ice sculpture,’ some funny analogy, and it was meant to let us know we were getting away from the work,” singer/songwriter/guitarist Dwight Ritcher said. “He has a great sense of humor, great ears and he really kept us loose.”
A retro soul band, contemporary blues act, roots rock duo and r&b dynamo all at once, Dwight & Nicole have found Hamilton can capture their spirit on tape like no other producer. And that can be heard on new single “The Next Go-Round.”
Written by singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Nicole Nelson and based on a simple, hypnotic keyboard line she came up with, “The Next Go-Round” works nicely as a calling card for Dwight & Nicole’s sound. It resembles a gospel tune written a century ago and would also fit nicely on Brittany Howard’s 2019 experimental pop album.
“I was just pondering the thought, ‘Is love ever lost?’” Nelson said. “It can’t be lost. It’s such a force, it has to continue to exist on some level even if it’s just in your mind, on that plane of existence. … I’m not much of a keyboard player so the part is really simple but Dwight liked what I was doing and sat down at the drums and I put my phone on and recorded us and the song was there on day one. That’s the demo we sent to Joel, that’s what he loved and so we stuck close to that.”
In the studio, Ritcher added a wild, downright messy guitar part to the track using his signature Gibson Flying V.