nicotine

The deep cut that became a streaming monster. 'nicotine' is the rare album track that out-performed its singles on Spotify and TikTok — a slinky, piano-led honky-tonk number about loving someone the way you love a habit you keep telling yourself you'll quit.

The production is the star here. Mickey Raphael-style honky-tonk piano (played by Mark Hill on the record), a Telecaster doing dry comping, walking bass, and Ella's voice low and a little ragged. The whole thing sounds like a 2 AM phone call you regret in real time. Will Bundy mixed it dirty on purpose — there's tape hiss audible in the verses.

It's the song fans flag as the one that made them realize Ella was operating at a different level than the radio singles suggested. The lyric is funny in a Lori McKenna way — small turns of phrase that land harder than they should. At live shows she usually does it slowed down and even smokier than the record, and it absolutely wrecks the room.