Nikolas Lee’s standout single, Life That I Lead, taken from his debut EP Buddy Frequency, hits like a shot to the guts fired from the barrel of an Americana roots rock gun. Guitars twist into contorting varieties, winding fluidly round understated drums and conjuring nostalgically secular, salving melodies. It’s paradoxical how Lee crafts such grandeur but stays anchored to intimate truths within the single that asks for no permission earlier than making emotion and empathy swell in your chest.
Lyrically, Life That I Lead confronts life’s hardest realities head-on, touching uncooked nerves by way of unfiltered introspection. Lee narrates an affecting vignette of a life formed by trials and softened by resilience; it’s gospel for many who recognise comfort in music, resonating with compassion for each betraying street, vice, and proclivity.
Now primarily based in Melbourne after his youth in Brighton and a inventive hiatus, Lee channels renewed goal into his work. His musical signature integrates nostalgia with world-weary optimism, reflective but robustly hopeful. Influenced by traditional and modern songwriters, Lee brings authenticity with heat textures and psychedelic thrives, represented symbolically by Freddy, the Pink Creature embodying his ADHD alter ego.
Produced by Ben Provest, Buddy Frequency speaks intimately to listeners navigating self-discovery. Life That I Lead epitomises this emotional catharsis, delivering not merely introspection, however an open invitation in direction of understanding private truths.
Life That I Lead is now accessible to stream on all main platforms, together with Spotify.
Evaluation by Amelia Vandergast
