The absence of bricks-and-mortar music retailers has made it more difficult to track everything that’s new in a given week. The visceral experience of browsing the racks just doesn’t translate online (no matter how elegant the site design), leading to the inevitable miss. Days or weeks—even months—after the fact, I’ve often stumbled upon something new from favorite artists (superstars and not) that I hadn’t heard about.

It’s a topic I’ll likely revisit because I’m sure other music fans are similarly frustrated. Yesterday, for example, while surfing around for who knows what, I read that Nicole Atkins had issued a four-song covers EP on September 9. (Talk about two great tastes that taste great together.)

On Nicole Atkins Digs Other People’s Songs, the New Jersey native covers The Church, Nada Surf, The Doors, and The Mamas & The Papas. Atkins describes the digital-only release as a collection of “really rockin’ love songs.”

One of them, The Church’s “Under The Milky Way,” was Atkins’ favorite song in high school. A perfect melancholic soundtrack to topsy-turvy teenage life, the track no doubt pulled many into its strangely beautiful orbit. Hear here:

Read my earlier post about Atkins, who is currently working on a new album for 2009. In an effort to enjoy some advance notice of its arrival, I’ve added my name to her e-mail list. One down, hundreds to go!

Purchase Nicole Atkins Digs Other People’s Songs via iTunes, Amazon.