Indie soft boys and soul powerhouses: Is a love for Nina Simone the key for great new music?
There are many reasons we remember musicians of the 1960s as some of the most important of all time.
Of course, primarily it is the music. The ‘60s were the first true decade of booming pop culture after World War II, where the limitations placed on artists by conservatism were slowly starting to ebb away, and subsequently, an innovative approach to creativity was born. But on top of this fertile creative ground were shaky foundations that were constantly shifting with the social times.
While the newfound liberalism may have suggested simpler times, they were anything but. Counterculture wasn’t just a cosmetic rebellion, designed to signal virtuosity; instead, it was built on the back of social injustice campaigns that spread from the Vietnam War, all the way to the fearless civil rights campaigners.
So artists were given free rein to express themselves in any way they wanted, so long as it spoke to the sensitivity of the culture – while Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles all facilitated that, it was Nina Simone who fearlessly led it.
“She is the ultimate artist,” Raye once claimed. “Everything she represents and did for music and for politics was game-changing. I have a poster of her in my room with the quote ‘It’s an artist’s duty to reflect the times.”
She added that this is what makes her, “One of my biggest inspirations for being an artist, I want to be an artist who is as honest as I feel like I am in my everyday life, with my friends, with my family and with what I believe… I’m a super passionate person, full of conviction, and I relate to her bravery; I want to be as brave as Nina was.”
Simone’s ability to craft original music, while fiercely engaging with the political spectrum she spoke to, is ultimately what has made her such a beloved artist in the modern landscape. In 2026, Raye finds herself wading through equally choppy waters, where artists have more than just an obligation to engage with society, but a duty. And Simone serves as something of a guiding light for her.
But Raye’s music is cut from a more obviously similar cloth. A legion of jazz-infused songwriters can all rightly profess to view Simone as a creative north star. But her influence stretches far beyond that, and she’s almost become a nucleus in the influence of modern music, across every single genre going.
While culture critics are quick to lament Cameron Winter’s similarities with Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, it’s Simone that he’s more inclined to accept, no matter how daunting he believes following her work is.
He once tweeted, “It is very hard to listen to most music after listening to Nina Simone. Her best work is so emotionally gigantic that comparing it to some best new music indie release is like watching Mike Tyson in the ring against Car Seat Headrest.”
In the bizarre world of Cameron Winter, that means Nina Simone is the very best to do it. And Winter’s success doesn’t universally mean that a deep love for Simone is the only path to success, but it does loosely mean not liking her will deeply damage your chances.
