Singer-songwriter, Nicki Walters cheekily refers to themselves as “your favorite queer alt folk artist that you’ve never heard of,” but we have a feeling the latter half of that description isn’t going to be the case for much longer. Over the last few years, she’s shared an abundance of singles that have honed down their sound into what it is today, which she brings to life with the help of drummer Nick Schell. If this is your first encounter with the Denver-based artist’s fiercely openhearted and genre-blending take on folk—prepare to find yourself enamored.
The first thing that strikes you about Walters’ music is its unfiltered vulnerability and candidness. “Just the Same,” the first single they put out, unfolds as a third-person chronicling of the anxieties and fears that welled up inside them as they struggled to anticipate the reactions of friends and family toward their sexuality. A deft talent for translating the personal into relatable, deeply felt experiences is threaded throughout the songs she’s shared since emerging in 2021.
Grappling with fluctuations in mental health and identity, Walters pairs their introspections with everything from sparse instrumentation to tenderly-callithumpian folk that at times tinges of electronic influence. Their debut EP, Just For Me (2023), explores the overlapping layers of their long-budding alt-folk sound: “I Couldn’t” opens the collection with a flurry of auto-tune-contorted vocalizations, while “Bored” echoes the cacophony of a turbulent relationship with its rumbles of bass.
It’s not hard to see the effect that some of the artists and bands that Walters looks to as inspirations have had on their music. Like Bon Iver or Radiohead, they occupy a sonic palette that draws on the spacious intimacy created by the soundscapes of folk and electronica. They even dropped an absolutely ripping cover of “2+2=5” that puts into stark perspective those similarities.
This year, Walters released two new singles: “I Wish I Was Better” and “Roommate.” Here, the rawness of their lyricism seeps into their sound, creating a tangle of jutting textures and coarse rhythms that illuminate the turmoil at their center. One wrestles with the frustrating difficulties of opening up to someone else, while the other articulates with gut-wrenching clarity the particular pain that comes with the parents of the woman they love refusing to acknowledge their relationship.
Even just a shuffle through their discography is enough to prove Walters partially right—this is our favorite alt-folk artist that we have heard of—and easily the most original and compelling to emerge in recent years. When that debut album finally arrives, we’re confident it’ll only place them further on the radar of listeners who are also fans of bands like super-group boygenius. For now, keep their music exactly where it should be, in your ears and close to your heart.
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Words: Steven Ward
Visit Nicki Walters on their website and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
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