Nickolas Laurien, known professionally as Nick Nicely, and born in 1959 during a transatlantic flight layover in Greenland, is an English singer-songwriter of psychedelic and electronic music. He grew up in Hitchin, near London, and started playing harmonica at age ten before transitioning to guitar. In the mid-1970s, Laurien formed the short-lived Nick Nicely Band with friends. His first single "D.C.T. Dreams" (1980) blended 1960s psychedelia and 1980s electronics, becoming a minor hit in France and the Netherlands. The follow-up single "Hilly Fields (1892)" (1982), recorded over six months, featured prominent psychedelic influences and synth-pop sounds. Nicely's influence extended to artists like Bevis Frond, Robyn Hitchcock, Robert Wyatt, and XTC. In the late 1980s, he collaborated with Gavin Mills under various names, producing house tracks and enjoying chart success. Notable albums include Space of a Second (2014) and Sleep Safari (2017).
