Her debut album, Wreck of the Day, featuring her first radio hit, "Breathe (2 AM)", was released on April 19, 2005.

[4] Nalick was born and raised in Temple City, California, and attended Holy Angels Grammar School in Arcadia before moving to Glendora with her parents at age 14.

[2] Nalick's Jewish paternal grandfather and his family came from Kyiv, then part of the Russian Empire, emigrating to the United States to escape the ongoing anti-Semitic pogroms.

[5][6] A key memory of her childhood is the fifth grade math class where she would stop paying attention to the teacher, and instead rewrite the lyrics to a Cranberries song.

[7] She grew up in a family where two of the grandparents had performed on Broadway, and where her parents exposed her to a number of different artists, including Elvis Presley and Led Zeppelin.

Nalick agreed to pass along a low-fidelity six-song demo tape, and soon enough, was introduced to Christopher Thorn and Brad Smith, the founding members of Blind Melon now turned production team, as well as Eric Rosse, best known for his production work for Tori Amos.

Nalick went into the studio with Thorn, Smith, and Rosse as producers, together with mix-engineer Mark Endert (Fiona Apple, Maroon 5, and Gavin DeGraw).

Her lead single from Wreck of the Day, "Breathe (2 AM)", experienced a resurgence on worldwide charts following a highly prominent appearance in a Grey's Anatomy episode (As We Know It), aired February 12, 2006.

Two months later, Nalick took honors as "AC Female Artist of the Year" at the New Music Awards, beating out Sheryl Crow.

According to her official website, Nalick was so convinced that Crow would win the award that she kicked back and relaxed, removing her shoes.

[13] It featured the title single, a cover of Red Hot Chili Peppers's song "Breaking the Girl", and acoustic renditions of Nalick's best-known tracks.

At the time, she was making a record with producer Nathan Chapman (Taylor Swift, Jewel), with an expected release date in 2011.

Nalick performed on Good Day Sacramento, singing "Walk Away" in honor of the people who died in the September 11 attacks.

[19] The album is a collection of covers spanning works from the 1940s to the 1990s, recorded in a single day in a decommissioned church in Brooklyn, New York.