Nicole Marxen is a Dallas-based musician and visual artist. Known as one of the shiny dark innovators behind acclaimed avant-garde pop band Midnight Opera, she makes her solo debut with EP Tether.
Highlighted by QVC in an original docu-series on beauty & glamour, and featured by the likes of Brooklyn Vegan, Impose Magazine, Tiny Mix Tapes, Daytrotter, and The Observer, Midnight Opera received praise for their “unpredictable songwriting; waterfalls of catharsis; gorgeous, haunting melodies.”
“I started touring and playing music by accident when I was 19. I was asked last minute to sing and play auxiliary percussion in a band from my hometown. A week later, I went on my first tour and was hooked.” She reveals
Tether is her latest EP and is a meditation on the grieving process. Following the sudden passing of her mother, Marxen explores grief through the lens of a crystal—multifaceted among jagged and lustrous planes.
“I used to think that my life wasn’t worth writing about,” says Marxen. “I hid behind the characters I created, the haven of the stage, the armor of costume. My art was elaborate escapism.”
Tether is my first EP as a solo musician. It was produced and mixed by my dear friend, Alex Bhore, and mastered by Greg Calbi. We recorded in late 2019 at John Congleton’s studio, Elmwood. Thematically, it explores grief and trauma in the wake of my mother’s death.”
The title track finds itself traversing the vast, desert landscape of loss. Marxen says “in many ways, it was a crucial first step in my own grieving process and self-discovery as a songwriter. Being so rooted in showmanship, I hadn’t explored such vulnerability in my work before.”
She elaborates “when I began to shift my efforts inward, I found that my truth very much needed to be expressed. The song serves as a reminder to hold space for myself.”
Soaring from screeching highs to icy subterranean depths, Marxen creates a sonic landscape in which she is unafraid to own her pain. Recorded at John Congleton’s studio, Elmwood, with Alex Bhore (formerly of This Will Destroy You), unresolved emotions began to take shape. Grief cannot be overcome, only carried.
“When considering visuals – she adds – it was important to stay authentic to my experience, and a black and white aesthetic made a lot of sense. Judd Myers, who directed the video for Tether and shot the album art, pulled references from silent films, as well as work from photographers such as Ralph Gibson and Sally Mann.”
Her calendar includes a very exciting “remix coming soon and more music videos in the next few months. I also have a full length written that I’ll start recording soon!”
