Nightshift - Homosapien

Album - Release date: 26/07/24 - Technicolour Fruit Basket Swirled Vinyl 

Genre: Indie/Shoegaze

Third album from the Glasgow group. It’s been three years since Glasgow musical collective Nightshift’s last album (Zöe, 2021) and aside form an odds and sods tape compilation Made Of The Earth, the group has remained relatively quiet on the recorded front. Newly regrouped into a quartet, the band has readied their proper follow up to Zöe and their third album Homosapien, again for Chicago’s Trouble In Mind Records.

Recorded and mixed in the band’s rehearsal space by members Chris White and Rob Alexander, Homosapien started to take shape in Summer 2023. Writing had begun prior, but due to a crucial lineup change, the band had to start again. Thankfully, once they regrouped, the assembly and recording of the new set of songs was fun and relatively quick. Notably, the band has lost some members, gained a new member and shuffled some roles; former drummer Chris White (Spinning Coin) is now on guitar. His distinctive playing delivers a countrified energy that is central to the album, leading the song structures into more succinct and colourful places, matching the upbeat and playful nature the band has always drawn strength from, only more so now under his stylish approach. Primary vocalist and keyboardist Eothen Stern (also of 2 Ply)’s lyrical gifts illuminate the group’s output with an optimistic urgency that is unmatched. On Homosapien she wears her heart on her sleeve, but even in the song’s darkest moments, the words create a sense of hope and potential. She doesn’t shy away from politics or contemporary love languages and finds humor, earnestness, and critique at every turn. Andrew Robert Doig continues to play bass (Dancer/Robert Sotelo) and provides occasional lead vocals on tunes like “Together We Roll” and “Mellow Baby”.

Newest member and drummer Rob Alexander (Tarantula/Radio Banter) allows for a second new development in the band dynamic. Replacing Chris (his longtime friend from childhood) is no mean feat. Thankfully his drumming is an avalanche of skillful technique with a glorious abandon that swerves it away from the academic and absolutely into a wild and tactile performance that lifts the sound of the album (he also plays accordion and tin whistle). Friend and colleague Ray Aggs (Shopping, RAGGS) also contributes fiddle to “Sure Look” and “Phone”.

Nightshift’s newest songs were born out of some genuinely existential times (birth, death and love all played a very real part in the gestation of the new record). Songs like first single “Crystal Ball”, “Cut” and “Side Effects” all touch upon struggle created by an ever encroaching fascist government (exacerbated by Brexit) and the effects austerity has upon their people. Other songs like “Sure Look”, “Phone” and “Crush” deal with matters of the heart while “Your Good Self” and “Together We Roll” take on self-preservation and community. It’s a great irony that the band are sculpting their most succinct and tuneful music yet from this potential chaos, but it’s this unexpected quality that drives them onwards into a dizzying universe.