Nicole's Feral

Nicole's Feral

Bruce Von Stiers

Nicole Sophia is a Southern California singer/songwriter. Her music is mostly defined as indie pop /rock “shaped by emotional honesty and powerful storytelling.” Prior to being based in Santa Barbara, Nicole honed her music in various locations in Connecticut and spent some time in Nashville.

This year finds Nicole having recorded a full-length album. The title of the album is Feral, and it was released on the Voracious Records label. The album has ten songs and a run-time of thirty-six minutes.

Nicole wrote all of the songs on the album. She does the lead vocals on all of the songs and plays guitar on a few of them.

Mckenna Elliott did backing vocals. A graduate of the Berklee School of Music, she has her debut album coming out in early 2026 on Voracious Records.

Zachary Wallace was on electric guitars and acoustic guitar Elbow guitar. He teaches music at the college level, composes music and is a professional photographer in addition to playing and recording music.

Perry Norton was on electric guitars for one song and backing vocals for another. She has over twenty years in the music industry as an artist and producer. Perry is also one of the co-founders of Voracious Records.

Jim Salvito was on bass guitar and keyboards and synth and organ, electronic piano, clarinet and horn programming. He is the other co-founder of Voracious Records.

Kyle Dorny was on drums. Aside from being a “first-call” drummer for Voracious Records, he has performed at venues such as the Troubadour and at on festival stages with the likes of Eric Marienthal and Tom Scott.

William Brewer was on electric guitar for one song. c

The majority of the songs on the album have a sense of hurt and desperation. But there is a glimmer of hope in there somewhere. There is a bunch of angst in the songs, yet the vocals are fluid and lyrical.

Too Young To Die is the first song. She is pretending to everyone that she is doing fine. But she's getting burnt out and feeling like part of her is dying. But she is too young to die so she'll try to find a way to get out of this cycle. The song has nice vocals and some great guitar backing them.

Sweet Melancholy has lyrics that suggest it is about sex. But the liner notes on the song tells that it is actually about Nicole's relationship with sadness. And how it is “better to feel too much than nothing at all.”

Some Kind of Soulmates has a toe-tapping beat, an almost rock tone. It is about finding someone who just clicks with you and going for it. Not love at first sight, but a strong feeling that this is the person for you. I can definitely relate to that. Within a couple of hours of meeting my wife, I knew that she and I could have something special.

Meet Me in the Bathroom is about meeting someone and that the attraction is so strong, that you can't wait to be with them. Even though the song has some salacious lyrics, the vocals are smooth and the music is really good.

Dark Chocolate is about how a short term relationship really messed up her head after it ended.

Sex on the Internet is about finding an anonymous flirtation and not having to hold back. She is maybe trying to relive her youth, only she was never this uninhibited when she was young. Is this wrong or right that she feels so free?

Nicole's notes on Hope That We'l Figure It Out is that it's about an almost “threesome on a dance floor at a gay dance party.” But that is only the surface story. She is actually singing about her insecurities and how she is trying to navigate them.

If You're Gonna Love Me is a beautiful, yet haunting song about being lonely and trying to find someone to connect with.

Praying For a Positive Sign is about trying to finding hope in a seemingly hopeless time. And that the person is trying to find a positive sign that things will get better. That they are praying to be able to see that sign.

Everything's Gonna Be Fine is the final song on the album. It is about feeling down and desperate. But somehow, there is a glimmer of hope in her thoughts, so everything is going to be fine.

The common thread of praise for Nicole and her music is that it is authentic. That it touches on her vulnerability and strengths as she weaves the stories of her life and times. I believe the praise is accurate. And even though the vocals are fluid, they portray the raw emotions that each song presents.

Feral is available at amazon music and other retailers. You can also order a copy directly from Nicole's website. You can find that information and more about Nicole Sophia at https://www.nicolesophiamusic.com/

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