Pop rock bliss from dusk till dawn: Spector’s ‘Here Come the Early Nights’
The iconic indie act share their new album.
Photo: Press
Few bands can match the tenure and firebrand tenacity of Spector. The four-piece from London have consistently delivered some of indie rock’s best albums, sprinkling each with something a little different, but undeniably addictive. Whether it’s the self-assured confidence of the group’s debut album, Enjoy it While it Lasts, 2015’s electro-wreathed Moth Boys or thoughtful synth-rockers in Now or Whenever, Spector deliver pop rock anthems with depth.
The band’s new record, Here Come the Early Nights, sticks to that unshakeable formula, promising Saturday night, riff-laden rockers and Sunday morning, sobering melodies a plenty. There’s even something for the place between, the liminal space of a city centre after dark.
Here Come the Early Night, Spector’s fourth full-length release, is a collection of ten tracks, clocking in at nearly 40 minutes of late-night electro-indie bliss. The proceedings begin with mid-tempo The Notion, as ‘90s shoegaze as it is Vaccines-esque alt rock. “Stuck in the notion / of hopeless emotion”, sings frontman Fred Macpherson – a line that appropriately echoes the feeling of the whole set.
Driving Home for Halloween is a more ‘straightforward’ Spector track, harking back to the early 2010s in sound, followed by Some People, one of the highlights of the whole record. Three songs in, and already three songs that’d easily make the cut for any rocker’s playlist.
There’s out-and-out punk rock in Not Another Weekend, a testament to Spector’s ability in reading the room. It’s not all inward ballads about teenage naivete and heartbreak; sometimes we want neurotic rock that just goes hard. Pressure is one of the more interesting moments of Early Nights, claustrophobic in feel and making use of some very un-Spector instruments.
The lead single, Another Life, remains as effortlessly cool and binge-able as it did upon release, with no shortage of alternative swagger. There’s space to breathe in comedown anthems Room with a Different View and Here Come the Early Nights, as sublime as the headbanging highs on this album.
Spector’s fourth closes with All of the World is Changing, a thumping electro-pop with attitude, and final reminder that the group can keep us dancing ‘til the end. Here Come the Early Nights is a worthy release from the band, a burning powerhouse against the light of indie rock’s fire. The genre is alive and kicking, all these years later. You can thank Spector for that.