When it comes to playing guitar, Nikki Lane likes to refer to herself as “Clangity Lane”. Her playing is fairly straightforward. Nonetheless, it’s vital to her songwriting process. “My guitar playing has always been for the purpose of writing,” she says. “It’s not a natural thing for me to play guitar. It took a lot of work for me to have the muscle memory to do it. So now I say my style is just indicative of the tone I’m trying to write.”
Even so, Lane felt her playing took a step forward on her latest album, Denim & Diamonds, which was produced by Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme. Homme, who also played guitar, assembled an all-star backing band featuring QOTSA collaborator Alain Johannes on guitar, Dean Fertita on organ and Michael Shuman on bass. Arctic Monkeys’ Matt Helders, Autolux’s Carla Azar and Lane’s go-to pedal steel player, Matt Pynn, are also featured.
