The singer and songwriter known as
Henry Nilsen has released his new single, “Mind of Ice (And a Heart
of Stone).” The track has been published independent of creative
control from the corporate music industry. It comes with two B-side
tracks, “When You Smile” and “The Way You've Got Me Tremb'lin,”
for a total listening time of nine minutes, just short of being a
debut EP record. Evocative, original and accessible to music fans of
nearly every genre, “Mind of Ice” is a sign that Henry Nilsen is
a voice to listen for in 2016.
Nilsen cites as main artistic
influences Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Nelly Furtado, and Natasha
Beddingfield. Of these, Nilsen's own style is similar to the
uniqueness of Waits, the songwriting of Furtado, and the pop
sensibilities of Beddingfield, while retaining an unmistakable blues
foundation which he shares with Bruce Springsteen. Nilsen's songs
thereby have something for everyone with an interest in music written
for vocals and guitar.
Asked about the themes of his “Mind
of Ice (And a Heart of Stone)” single, Nilsen replies, “The
mystery and frustration of love and life I'd guess.”
Henry Nilsen is a Norwegian lorry
driver, or truck driver, who began writing music in his spare time as
he hauled around the United Kingdom. This connects him to a long
musical history in the UK and US of many celebrated trucker/musicians
which most notably includes Elvis Presley. His English comes also
from his spare time, during which he listened to audio books and read
what he could.
“I'm particularly fond of older
English,” he writes, “with nice, unknown words that have changed
meaning over a few hundred years.”
This linguistic bent, along with a
natural ear for tone and an inborn talent for songwriting, led Nilsen
to put modern technology to use so the world could hear what he's
been doing with a guitar all this time. A solo artist, he hires a
bassist and drummer for recording purposes. The rest of the music is
Nilsen.
“I got my head around computers
enough so I could install my own little studio at home,” he writes.
“I know nothing of music production, so I kind of make a whole mess
of a song before I exclude what doesn't work and end up with some
sort of product that I send off to someone who knows about
production.”
Any music lover can tell that whoever
made “Mind of Ice” and its two B-sides is a musician with more up
his sleeve. How much more? Nilsen hints that a debut album may be in
the works.
“I'm 44 years old and got a bunch of
songs written,” writes the artist, “so I figured what the hell.
These songs ain't gonna do no one no good in these notebooks. Why not
publish?”
Music fans everywhere are certain to be
glad he has, and to hope he'll continue to do so.
“Mind of Ice (And Heart of Stone)”
by Henry Nilsen is available online worldwide at over 700 digital
music stores now. Get in early, music fans.
-S. McCauley
Lead Press Release Writer
www.MondoTunes.com
“Mind of Ice (And Heart of
Stone)” by Henry Nilsen –
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