NIGHTWELL RELEASES NEW SINGLE "THANK YOU"
Remember in the 2010’s when all of our favourite emo bands tried to incorporate electronic pop into their sound and it left fans divided between OGs and newbies? Well 10 years later there are bands picking up those scraps and making a pop punk fusion that actually works! Take Toronto’s pop punk band Nightwell for example. When they formed in 2017, they were an exclusively a punk/post-hardcore band, but once decided on pursuing pop punk, embraced it fully and wore it proudly.
In their newest track “Thank You”, we get all your favourite emo lyrical themes of a complicated relationship: where a partner doesn’t embrace the narrator’s flaws and needs, and is left to deal all alone while they provide them with all their needs. The sound begins with a lo-fi trap pop song showing the side of the narrator who puts on a nice face for their partner until the chorus which slams into a post-hardcore/emo sound but with a pop hook. The narrator puts their foot down with their needs. Jason Emsallem’s vocals are versatile, going from modern pop swagger to post-hardcore yells throughout the song.
Coming to the second verse, the relationship is worsening with more conflict as the couple attempt to work out their issues and the sound of the song builds up that tension by slowly incorporating more guitars and real drum beats. The song explodes in the bridge in full post-hardcore throttle with quickened metal drum beats as the end of the relationship is evident and there is nothing left give and the partner is ungrateful. The song whips back to the chorus as the narrator’s needs of healing on their own are retold and feel stronger as a resolution has been reached.
Nightwell fuse pop punk in a way that would satisfy both sides of fans: the ones who were like, “I saw them in my mum’s basement when they were post-hardcore,” and the new pop fans. They’re a good band for strictly pop fans to slowly get into rock. This is a band for fans of Free Throw and Can’t Swim. Be sure to check out their forthcoming EP What You Feel when it drops, as well as their self-titled LP!