Up-and-coming indie quartet Nicotine Dolls take their name from an epithet the band’s members coined to describe a particular breed of anti-social partygoer who would rather retreat to outdoor solitude for a quick drag than endure a crowd, so it’s a bit ironic that the band is perhaps best known in the public eye for similarly shunning the limelight. Singer Sami Cieri garnered a certain amount of popular recognition as a contestant on NBC’s hit show America’s Got Talent, but dropped out of the running further into the competition so as to avoid certain contractual obligations that would have changed the nature and direction of the band. Their latest single “Let Me Know”, released in the wake of their acclaimed 2023 EP How Do You Love Me, proves the wisdom of this decision. While it’s certainly a familiar, accessible sort of indie rock, “Let Me Know” is not the safe, cookie-cutter investment one would imagine the producers of prime-time TV show would dictate if given the band’s reigns.
“Let Me Know” features Cieri’s distinct, dulcetly raspy voice front and center right from the outset, starkly contrasted with quietly glistering piano and acoustic guitar. Bassist John Merrit joins at the turn of the chorus with a staccato insistence, and drummer Abel Tabares follows suit with rapid, almost orchestral percussion in the vein of Viva La Vida-era Coldplay. Guitarist John Hayes enters with some crystalline tonal textures and a Frippertronics-style overdub that strides atop the mix. Some cavernous harmonies round out the scene, positioned just so in the background to affect the sense of a massive space.
“Let Me Know” is a pristine chunk of form-fit indie rock, at once recalling the music of Kings of Leon or Mumford & Sons while providing a prime vehicle for Nicotine Dolls’ unique qualities to shine through. Nicotine Dolls, or at the very least their frontman, may have eschewed a quicker path to success, but their recent efforts – now with “Let Me Know” at the forefront – demonstrate that they’re perfectly capable of conquering the indie-sphere on their own terms.