SINGLE REVIEW: nightlife – i/o

’…outright refusing to be condensed into a single descriptor; it’s pop-punk, it’s djent, it’s RnB, it’s dance, it’s nightlife…’

Author’s Note: nightlife, you sly dogs! In the time it took me to polish this up for release, you’ve gone and released another banger with ‘strangeluv’. So yes, this review is now a little outdated, but now that nightlife have gifted us two fantastic songs, I can’t really complain – Ryan

From the start of their careers, there is one word that has consistently described nightlife, one that still remains true: important.

Arriving on the scene back in 2021 with their debut EP, the band have become one of the mostly hotly tipped around, with their sound outright refusing to be condensed into a single descriptor; it’s pop-punk, it’s djent, it’s RnB, it’s dance, it’s nightlife. This is pushed to its most glittering and glamorous extreme yet on the band’s brilliantly overwhelming new track, ‘i/o’.

This is a thumping house-infused banger that manages to place down-tuned chugging guitars next to the sort of 90’s club beat that you would expect on a peak Ministry of Sound compilation, and have it work to absolutely stunning effect. The entire first minute is purely instrumental, a spellbinding showcase of what nightlife are about, bringing the nightclub party to your favourite rock venue, and making both worlds merge seemlessly.

Bright keys are layered over a stomping synth bass line that definitely feels influenced by Robin S’s club classic ‘Show Me Love’. Hansel Romero’s vocals are woven into the mix as an ethereal instrumental, their feathery higher register elevating the densely packed track from club anthem to club classic.

It’s a bold statement, but a true one: there has never been a band quite like nightlife. From their inception, they have insisted on pushing the boundaries of heavy music beyond what anyone had thought possible; there simply isn’t a genre title for this music, and ‘i/o’ is the perfect example of this.

For Fans Of: The Home Team, pulses., Charli XCX, Beyoncé, Justice, Robyn

Featured photo credit belongs to @summerkalani.

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