Singled Out: Dwight + Nicole's Day Or Night

Dwight + Nicole just released their brand new album "Day Or Night" and to celebrate we asked Dwight Ritscher to tell us about the record's title track. Here is the story:

"Day or Night" is the title track off our new record. It speaks to the alchemy of our band. Male/female energy. High/low voices. Themes which inhabit our lives - hope, support, pure gestures, loyalty. These ideas are all washes in the back of my mind, not in any relation to chord changes, melodies, or lyrics. They're just back there.

I write down ideas for songs all the time. Some develop quickly, but often they're just a frame, which gets revisited when new inspiration hits. "Day or Night," was the latter. It revealed itself in three parts over three weeks. Each part was a melody line, a phrase of "mumbles," lyrics. These three parts were peppered in the middle of a lot of other songwriting activity, so I had no idea that they related to each other. I did know one was in Nicole's voice, though.

As good luck would have it, I began to feel them in relation to each other as I'd listen back to different ideas on my phone. There was a verse, a chorus, etc. Still didn't have the words "day or night," just the mumbles. One day before we were heading into the studio, I was kicking the song around, and Nicole said, "It sounds like you're saying 'day or night.'" POW! The lyrics came. The song revealed itself, but we still had to record it.

Fast forward to Studio G. Our producer and brother, Joel Hamilton, was prepping the session. We've been fortunate to work with this brilliant human for years. The thing that was different about the "Day or Night" session is that our friend and studio ace keyboardist, Jon Solo, was leaving NYC after 25 years for Nashville. He had already packed, and suggested that we all hole up in the studio together and record as a band before he split. It was this final bit of serendipity that sealed the deal for "Day and Night." His lush keyboard parts bloomed the song and give my first (and last?) lap steel solo a bed of harmony to sing over. We were done! It should be mentioned that brother Joel really crushed the mix, and Adam Ayan did a fantastic job mastering the song.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more here

Singled Out: Dwight + Nicole's Saying Goodbye

Singled Out: Dwight + Nicole's Heart Is Home

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