Each release of the NYC-based artist is a photo journal, a collection of “in the moment,” unposed music portraits that reveal the core of herself and her artistry. Leslie’s latest EP, Love + Destruction, is her most well composed and elegantly revealing body of work.

Apple Co-Founder, Steve Wozniak, recently

tweeted about DiNicola:
“Her singing and music put me in heaven.”

It’s a potent sensibility that has endeared her to critics, fans, other established artists, and industry vets. Allen Foster of AXS succinctly enthuses: “DiNicola spins magic from her heart through her lips to create songs that are more powerful than mere words and music.” October Project’s Julie Flanders says: “DiNicola pours her full soul and tremendous heart into songs you will recognize for their mysterious way of telling your secret story with her powerful voice.” Leslie has worked with such respected music biz names as Ron Allaire (David Bowie, Keith Richards, Madonna, Shakira), Julian Coryell (Aimee Mann, Leonard Cohen, Jewel, Alanis Morisette), Erich Gobel (John Mayer, Ray Charles), Mark Schulman (P!nk, Cher, Foreigner), Julie Flanders (October Project), and Ellis Traver (Diane Birch, Fischerspooner, Sean Lennon, and Mark Ronson).

As a live performer, her commanding vocals and smoldering stage presence have enabled her to sell out solo shows and hold her own alongside world renowned artists like Brian Wilson, John Waite, Howie Day, Anna Nalick, and October Project.

Leslie is also a highly in-demand artist singing the “National Anthem” at major league sporting events across the country.

Leslie experienced a creative watershed time period recording her EP, Draw Back Your Bow (2011). This was a sophisticated and imaginative covers collection that resonated deeply with the public, and her mesmerizing renditions of Journey’s “Separate Ways” and U2’s “With Or Without You” peaked on the CMJ charts all over the country. Simply put: Studying world-class pop songs helped Leslie become a sharper and more expressive songwriter.

There is a gracefulness to her follow up five-song collection; Some Greener Yard (2013) feels quaint, emotionally direct, and hopeful. The elegantly elegiac “Weight” tenderly salutes a deceased friend. The redemptive “It’s Alright” features pastoral folk guitars and subtle gospel-y organs and sends a message of love and warmth to a friend who lost her father. And the euphoric Motown-esque-meets-1980s new wave “Stay” brightens the EP with the uplifting message that people can always fall in love and still feel that childlike wonder of new relationships.

Leslie went on to record not one, but two more projects with producer, Julian Coryell, who has been an essential artistic ally during this period of her career. “Julian doesn’t allow anything between me and the song except the truth,” she explains. With these two six-song collections, Wake Up (2014) and Love + Destruction (2016), DiNicola dove deeply into experimenting with production and vocal layering. Each of the 12 songs on these two EPs combine the emotionally resonant lyrics that her fans adore along with wildly sophisticated and catchy melodies that will echo in your head… and heart for days. While wrapping up sessions for Love + Destruction, DiNicola made a last minute decision to call in a string quartet to record (and film live) a stunningly beautiful rendition of her single, “Boy + Girl”.  The result was magnificent.

“When I look back at the work I’ve done, it’s like going through scrapbooks,” Leslie says thoughtfully. “Each song is like a photograph of the person I was in a particular moment. It tells a story that my soul needed to tell. I hope these songs comfort people and give them an inherent sense of hope against life’s sorrow… because that’s why I listen to music. And that’s why I write music.”

Leslie’s current endeavor has enlisted the collaborative efforts of two of the greatest living songwriters today: Julie Flanders and Emil Adler of October Project. This upcoming full length album combines their soaring melodies and haunting lyrics with DiNicola’s spellbinding voice. When asked what fans can expect from this batch of new music, DiNicola flashed a smile and said, “Magic.”