Today I’m thrilled to bring everyone the new Yaz cover song performed by Dwight + Nicole called “Only You.” The song comes from the band’s forthcoming LP, Day or Night, that will be released on March 20, 2026 via WestWalk Records. Nicole Nelson shared, “I found the process of creating Day or Night to be about looking inward – reflecting my inner and not outer world. It was a deeply healing process creating this music. We always head into recording sessions with a bunch of songs and song ideas in hand. Often, we run out of time before we can finish everything we set out to record. Other times, we have finished recordings that don’t fit with the album we’ve built. Day or Night is the product of whittling down a collection of 163 compositions, demos, and studio recordings.” If you’re enjoying the single, please consider supporting the band here.
What is the story behind your cover of the song, “Only You”?
Nicole: In 2020, my aunt and uncle gave Dwight and me an enormous pair of ’90s Klipsch speakers. They sat untouched until late last year, when Dennis, a real music head who is also our manager, could no longer stand how shitty our stereo was, and called us “the shoemakers with no shoes.” He insisted we at least hook up the “far superior speakers sitting right there,” and he even offered to help us do it. We obliged, and once it was finally up and running, the very first song he played us was “Only You” by Yaz. And I was immediately struck by a memory – I was around 5 years old, in our apartment in Brooklyn, NY. My mom was listening to the radio that was playing through the stereo that my dad built. I was standing on the seat of a chair that my grandfather built. My brother was at school, and I wished he was home, but the DJ started playing “Only You,” and it was immediately captivating. It still is. But now it feels like finding gold in a memory box. Immediately after the song ended, Dwight and I both said, “We should cover this,” at the same time Dennis said, “You guys should cover this.” And just like that, our version was born.
Dwight: We usually dig into songs in the living room with just an acoustic guitar, and this one was no exception. I always feel that if it’s a song that resonates, you can inhabit it quickly and the song melds with your personality. This happened immediately with “Only You.” Nicole’s voice filled the corners of the song. I heard harmonies and a new chord change at the end of the song. We quickly shared space with it.
It’s a single from your forthcoming album, which is being released in March. What made you choose this song as a single? Is this a stand-out song on the album for you?
Dwight: The power of the song made us choose it as one of the singles. It has an ’80s shine to it with our producer Joel Hamilton’s suggestion of arpeggiated synthesizers. A nod to the original, but in a different way, and also a nod to the unifying ’80s and ’90s sounds that are woven into a good bit of the production on this record.
What do you hope that listeners take away from hearing this song?
Dwight: I hope the listener connects with the heartfelt delivery of the song. Nicole is in her power! We are open together on the harmonies and on the “instrumental section,” which ended up morphing into a harmonized vocal melody instead of an instrument solo. People’s reaction has been powerful. Tears. Smiles. The most noticeable reaction is that “Only You” has put folks in a nostalgic place, regardless of their age. People are in their feels and memories. We have not played it live yet to see a crowd reaction. Can’t wait.
Nicole: I hope that everyone has a very individual experience with it. You know how each person who looks at a rainbow sees their own unique version? I hope it’s like that. The song carries such powerful nostalgia energy. I think it’s really good for us humans to hear music that rings little bells in our deeper psyche. In my opinion, this is the most important role that music plays in life. It stirs up otherwise stagnant emotions – it triggers feelings that were otherwise “locked up” in us. Listening to the right music can help us to release and re-frame memories that have kept us stuck in old patterns. Singing and dancing to songs like this can spark these actual alchemical shifts. That’s why we love them and come back to them again and again. They help us to re-define ourselves and view our lives through some impossibly cool artists’ rose-gold lens.
Do you have any particular memories about recording this song specifically? What was it like to work on this song in the studio?
Dwight: I remember there was an ease and flow to recording it in the studio. There was a “flow state” feeling recording that whole week actually, to the point that even on day three when I found my car window smashed before the session, there was no derailment from the musical focus. I dropped it in Queens to get fixed and got right back to work. Recently, Nicole was reviewing hours of vlog camera footage from that session, and there is a jovial, inspired, grateful focus throughout. To work with musicians and a producer who are so talented is a blessing. Studio G is a joy! I’m at home there. Family.
What kind of a vibe were you going for with this song? Did it end up sounding like you thought it would before you went into the studio, or did it go in a different direction? How do you think it differs from the original?
Nicole: It’s really important for me to truly embody the lyrics and what they mean to me, while also honoring the scope of beauty of the original. The song has resonated for decades because it rings as true to so many of us. For me, it is important to honor that and protect that.
Dwight: ”Only You” spoke to us immediately. We had small tweaks. We breathed our voices onto the track, and it was done. A studio vibe of effortlessness, that same feeling as playing it in our living room and feeling the “lightbulb go on.”
Tell us what is coming up for Dwight + Nicole in 2026!
Nicole: Our next album, Day or Night, drops on March 20, 2026. We are indie artists from day one, so the fact that we can even do this work full-time as artists is because of our incredible fanbase. We really want to get out there and meet everyone, thank them personally, and get to share some space together. Making music and sharing music is so intrinsically and organically human. It’s especially important to remember during times like these – seemingly obsessed with inorganic inhumanity. I hope our music acts as a beautiful reminder; I hope it reaches everyone who will resonate with us, and everyone who might find inspiration in our story. A lot of what 2026 will bring is still unknown – but I can say this for sure – there are people who are just now discovering us all over the world, and we are putting together a show worthy of a world tour for them. 2026 is set up to be a big one.
Dwight: We will be gearing up to bring this music out to our fans in a way that we haven’t seen since before the pandemic. This record deserves it. In the process, we will be one step closer to playing this music on “Saturday Night Live.” It’s been a good season for the show and a personal dream of mine! Maybe the coffee has lifted me to mention this, or the fact that the barista has just told us to look outside at the first snowfall on Church Street, but either way, I feel the magic.