(EBM) On the heels of announcing their 28-city an Attempt at Romantic Tour, pop-rock quartet Nicotine Dolls have released another taste of new music with "You Won't Have Me." The track, penned by songwriting legend Diane Warren, is one of two songs written by the GRAMMY-winner to be included on the band's forthcoming, debut album, an Attempt at Romantic, set for release March 7, 2025 via Nettwerk Music Group.
A devastating ballad, "You Won't Have Me" exhumes the pain of saying goodbye to someone you love but have reached a breaking point and have to leave for your own well-being.
You won't have me to call in the middle of the night no more
Won't be running to your door when you need a friend
You won't have me to lift you up when you're sinking
Chase away all the demons when they're in your head
You won't have me to hold you and to console you
Don't know who it's gonna be
But it won't be me
Cause you won't have me
"First thing I had to do was get over the fact that I was standing in the same room as one of the greatest living songwriters of all time, though I don't know if I ever truly got over that," shares the band's lead singer Sam Cieri on working with the music icon. "From a production standpoint, I was pretty confident that the song only needed vocal piano and strings. We didn't really get to in depth on where the song came from for her or where I would be coming at it from on my end and I liked that. Sometimes things don't need to be pulled apart like that. It just needs to exist in the song. And for me this one was the internal monologue of somebody leaving. Quietly packing a bag and walking away."
Founded in 2017 first by Cieri and John Hays who met and became friends on the Broadway tour for the Tony Award Winning show "Once." Fellow members John Merritt and Abel Tabares joined a year later. Nicotine Dolls have released a series of self-penned and produced singles and EPs, including the 2023 EP How Do You Love Me. After signing with Nettwerk Music Group, the band have been hailed by SPIN for their "vulnerability and determination," calling Cieri a "charismatic, gravelly-throated powerhouse with the rasp of Bruce Springsteen and the emotion of Lewis Capaldi."
Cieri, who wrote or co-wrote ten of the 12 tracks for the debut LP, shares, "This album has been my own internal attempt to be OK with wanting to love, and be loved in return," he explains. "I wanted to be dumb and nervous and brave and scared and everything that you drown in when someone looks at you in that way that derails the whole plan you had for your life. I live alone with my dog and I'm not saying I don't adore that life, because I do (my dog is my sweet big boy Indiana). But I miss laughing with someone in the kitchen or falling asleep watching trashy TV. I pride myself on my independence, but I think I made this record as a way to admit to myself that having someone there...would be nice."
The group chose to postpone their tour last fall to focus on completing the upcoming album. "At the time it was such a difficult decision because I knew we would be disappointing people. Looking back at it now I know it was the right thing to do because otherwise we wouldn't have an album ready and this is going to be the first time that we go out in support of an album," shared Cieri.
With stops across the US and Canada including Brooklyn, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, Nashville, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Toronto, and more, tickets for the band's an Attempt at Romantic Tour are on sale now.
an Attempt at Romantic Track Listing
Backseat (Diane Warren)
Walk Again (Sam Cieri)
In and Out of You (Sam Cieri and Sam Hollander)
Touch The Ground (Sam Cieri and Sam Hollander)
nothin' i do (Sam Cieri)
I Need Love (Sam Cieri)
You Want Have Me (Diane Warren)
Practice Makes Perfect (Sam Cieri and Sam Hollander)
Let Me Know (Sam Cieri)
In My Opinion (Sam Cieri)
Next To Me (Sam Cieri)
Still Saying Goodbye (Sam Cieri)
an Attempt at Romantic Tour Dates
March 20 Montreal, QC Les Foufounes Electriques
March 22 Toronto, ON Concert Hall
March 23 Buffalo, NY Electric City
March 25 Columbus, OH Skully's Music Diner
March 27 Detroit, MI The Shelter
March 28 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
March 30 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater
April 1 Kansas City, MO recordBar
April 3 Dallas, TX Granada Theater
April 4 Houston, TX Last Concert Cafe
April 5 New Orleans, LA House of Blues
April 9 Birmingham, AL Saturn
April 10 Charlotte, NC Neighborhood Theatre
April 12 Charlottesville, VA Jefferson Theater
April 14 Millville, PA Mr. Smalls Theatre
April 15 Newport, KY The Southgate House Revival
April 17 Milwaukee, WI Christian Yelich's Home Plate Charity Event
April 30 Indianapolis, IN HI-FI Annex
May 1 Nashville, TN Cannery Hall
May 3 Charleston, SC Music Farm
May 4 Atlanta, GA The Loft
May 6 Orlando, FL The Beacham
May 8 Savannah, GA District Live
May 9 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle
May 11 Washington, DC Union Stage
May 13 Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts
May 16 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
May 18 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
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