Jaime Nanci, self-styled debonair deviant eagerly anticipated single – ‘Escalante Street’ releases today. A dark and melancholic pop ballad detailing the universal quest for joy on streets that were once awash with colour and music but are now darkened and silent.
‘Escalante Street’ is a sweeping electronic ballad, and cinematic pandemic pop song taking inspiration from The Cure and Alison Moyet, wearing its ‘80s influences on its black chiffon sleeve while sounding contemporary, fresh and timeless.
The short film created to accompany ‘Escalante Street’ was co-written with, and directed by French filmmaker Jean-Marc Sanchez. It perfectly captures the eerie atmosphere of the Covid pandemic in footage from a late-night guerrilla shoot around the barrio of Cabañal, in the Spanish city of Valencia, at the height of the fourth wave.
‘Escalante Street’ is the first song taken from Nanci’s forthcoming EP and the first single he has released as a solo artist. Nanci was inspired to write the single while walking his dogs through his silent barrio, El Cabanyal as the pandemic took hold and the once-vibrant neighbourhood he and his husband had adopted as home became a strange and surreal ghost town.
Jaime Nanci began his career as the frontman of Cuckoo Savante an experimental, lounge punk band that became a fixture on Ireland’s live scene. Hailed as ‘Ireland’s most defiantly original jazz vocalist’ by the Irish Times following the release of his 2014 album TOY with his Blueboys outfit, Nanci spent the following years touring Ireland and internationally rapidly earning a reputation as a must see act.
After a decade on the live circuit in Ireland, Nanci stepped away from live performance due to health reasons (he is living with Multiple Sclerosis) and completed a Masters Degree in Vocal Jazz Performance at the University of Ulster.
Since then Nanci has relocated to Valencia, Spain where he infrequently performs with his new quintet QTF.
The onslaught of Covid 19 and the increasing uncertainty surrounding live performance possibilities inspired Nanci to re-evaluate his jazz positioning and being a child of the 80s, embrace a new direction collaborating with Brighton-based producer and multi-instrumentalist Tim Howarth. Together they have created a jazz-adjacent, southern gothic infused collection of new songs. The result is a fresh, original sound that promises to excite Jaime Nanci fans old and new.
Instagram @jaimenanciboy
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