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You Know Her From "Breathe (2 am)," the twenty-year-old's melodic, imagery-filled debut single, was prominently featured on Joan of Arcadia and quickly racked up a whopping 125,000 downloads on iTunes.
The Breakthrough Columbia Records is bullish on Nalick's album Wreck of the Day, which is being released on April 19th. Her confessional songs are already garnering her comparisons to Alanis Morissette, Vanessa Carlton and Fiona Apple. "I never feel it's going too fast, because I just don't know any better," says Nalick, who credits influences that veer more toward Billie Holiday and U2. "I'm like a little music director. I had a lot of creative control in the studio, even when I didn't necessarily know the technical terms for things. I'd just say, 'Make it sadder,' or 'Play lots of black keys.' "
Exit...Stage Left Before she recorded her own demos on a Rainbow Brite cassette machine, Nalick fronted a few metal cover bands, including an otherwise-male Rush tribute act. "We were called Estrogen Rush," she says. "I quit after a while. I think Rush is talented, but I wouldn't put them on my iPod."
Too Much Information Nalick doesn't see a risk to specializing in heart-on-sleeve lyrics. "A benefit to having the songs open to interpretation is not being forced to admit anything," she says. "My songs are literal, but nobody has to know that."