The New York Times-20080125-Nicole Atkins- -Schedule-

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Nicole Atkins; [Schedule]

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NICOLE ATKINS For almost two years now Ms. Atkins, above, has been on the brink of fame, which can sometimes seem a fate worse than failure. First there was a profile in Rolling Stone that tagged her as an artist to watch. Then came an American Express commercial -- Martin Scorsese treatment all the way -- which would have been perfect timing had her debut album come out on time. Instead fans waited. And waited. When Neptune City (Columbia) was finally released in late October, it received positive reviews but sold poorly, and all that buzz seemed to pack up and head somewhere else.

That's a shame. Ms. Atkins, 29, is one of the most talented singer-songwriters to emerge in New York in years, with songs that have anxious undercurrents despite their romantic, cinematic sweep -- pop noir, she calls it. She named her album after her hometown on the Jersey Shore, and in the title song, over a slow, murky beat that seems to sway like the sea, she sings of being stuck in a surreal state somewhere between being unable to leave home and being unable to return. Maybe if I paid attention, I could learn to love the landscape I was born to, she sings.

One wailing crescendo is all it takes to make you realize that Ms. Atkins is a woman with no small amount of will power. And while she didn't become the next Patti Smith overnight, she has persevered through all the fly-by-night hype and release-date postponements with gig after gig. On Friday she plays her long-delayed headlining date at the Bowery Ballroom, which for local acts can be either the stepping stone to something bigger or simply a career peak. Which will it be for Nicole Atkins? (At 8 p.m., with Craig Wedren and the Parlor Mob; 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, 212-533-2111, boweryballroom.com; sold out.) BEN SISARIO

[Illustration]PHOTO (PHOTOGRAPH BY SUSAN FARLEY FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)