As a songwriter, Nick Wayne knows how to write songs with an effortless good vibe. His new single, “Take It Easy,” for example, is like contagious fun—the coy guitar intro piques your interest, Wayne’s warm voice on the verses captures your heart and by the time you reach the radio-anthem-ready chorus, you’re having a genuine blast.
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Part of that has to do with Wayne’s knack for hi-fi, genre-bending arrangements. While his voice and some of the textures feel reminiscent of modern country, the bluesy guitar licks fall right in line with certain strains of neo-soul—all the while, the catchiness of the hook would be right at home on the Top 40. “I always say it’s ‘soul music,’ just meaning it’s me,” Wayne tells American Songwriter. “I open a vein and let it roll when I write and sing. Nothing more.”
That’s probably true—it would certainly explain why “Take It Easy” has such a euphoric vibe. See, Wayne really does write what he’s feeling, and right now, he’s feeling a whole lotta love. “I wrote ‘Take It Easy’ with a dear friend, Justin Ebach,” Wayne explained. “We wrote this song when I was getting to know my fiancée, Hannah Ellis. [Justin] was dating—and ended up marrying—Hannah’s publisher at the time, so we were writing about the girls quite a bit. All the features of the girl in the song are about Hannah, I’m already falling, like your brown hair out of those braids—Hannah wears braids a lot.”
With direct, real-world imagery scattered throughout the song, “Take It Easy” really feels like a musical encapsulation of those magic early days of a relationship—in a way, it certainly backs-up that whole “specificity = relatability” theory. By describing the details of his personal story—like Ellis’ brown braids—he’s able to flesh the song out with believability, which makes all the difference.
But, above all, “Take It Easy” is just pure fun. From its groove to its theme, it beams like a ray of sunlight. Commenting on his hope for it, Wayne said he wishes for audiences to “really enjoy just listening to it. It’s an easy roll down the windows type of chorus you can sing along to.”
Nick Wayne’s new single is “Take It Easy.” Listen below:
