Nina Simone’s ‘Nina’s Back’ Will Get First-Time Digital Release
Verve Records is re-releasing the 1985 album on various formats and making it available digitally for the first time.
Nina Simone needs no introduction, but her 1985 album Nina’s Back served as a reintroduction to the iconic artist after time spent away from recording. Now, Verve Records has announced they will be re-releasing Nina’s Back, making it available digitally for the very first time. This new edition of Nina’s Back will be released on March 15th and is available for pre-order now.
To celebrate the re-release, Verve has dropped a new animated visualizer for the track “For a While,” directed and animated by artist Lucy Dyson. Speaking of artwork, the re-release of Nina’s Back will also feature a brand new cover: a colorful rendition of Simone’s profile that aims to capture the album’s refreshing energy.
Simone recorded the album after a break from the music industry and time spent abroad living in Barbados and Liberia. The album features a collection of covers, including “For a While,” originally released by Frank Sinatra, as well as a number of original compositions. The tracks “I Sing Just To Know I’m Alive” and “Fodder On Her Wings” were first featured on her 1982 album Fodder On My Wings, but on Nina’s Back, Simone is accompanied by a band featuring horns and backup singers for a new imagining of her works.
Verve indicates it will be a big year for Simone fans. In addition to the new release of Nina’s Back, later this year, Verve is planning to debut a short documentary on “Mississippi Goddam,” which they describe as “the protest anthem that marked one of the most influential moments in Simone’s career. Simone holds nothing back on the groundbreaking track, which has remained steadfastly relevant to this day. This documentary will highlight the timeliness of ‘Mississippi Goddam’ 60 years after it was recorded.”
