Nightjacket
Following The Curves EP
Lonely Archer Records
Friday, September 25, 2020
LA-based band Nightjacket’s new single, “Lonely Archer,” was recorded on the very first day they met with new lead vocalist/co-songwriter Andrea Wasse. With their former lead vocalist having stepped away, the band asked around for recommendations, and a tip from mutual friend Bosh Rothman (drummer for Living Things/Kills Birds), led to the new lineup.
Prior to meeting Nightjacket, Canadian born singer-songwriter Wasse had been floating around Los Angeles, playing with and singing in various bands, exploring everything from pop to heavy alternative. With some time between her other projects, Digital Daggers and DeadXLife, Wasse found herself desiring an additional musical outlet. The opportunity to collaborate with Nightjacket presented itself and she jumped at it. Having heard only a few songs, Wasse knew that this was a group of musicians she wanted to play with. Nightjacket guitarist Jordan Wiggins sent her a few new demos, and she zeroed in on the track that would become “Lonely Archer.” Channeling longtime idols Hope Sandoval and Neil Young, Wasse quickly wrote lyrics and melody for the song, and upon meeting Wiggins and multi-instrumentalist Louie Schultz for the first time, recorded vocals for “Lonely Archer” that very day.
Additional songs quickly followed, ranging from the psychedelic Americana of “Lucky” to the analog synth-fueled “Burn Through Your Atmosphere” and the jangly, alternative pop of “Just a Little.” The new collection of songs will help make up the tracklist for the Friday, September 25 release of its upcoming four-song EP, Following The Curves, with a full-length album to follow in the first quarter of 2021.
Nightjacket began in 2015, when Wiggins and former lead vocalist Holland Belle wrote and recorded the band’s debut EP, Eternal Phase, in Wiggins’ home studio. The six-song collection of hypnotic and airy compositions would go on to receive acclaim locally and nationally by the likes of SPIN, Consequence of Sound, FLAUNT, Los Angeles Magazine, LA Weekly and more, and led to shows with like-minded acts such as The Mary Onettes, Veruca Salt and Tennis System, as well as a west coast tour of the U.S. with Canadian psychedelic rock band The Besnard Lakes.
The follow-up, 2019’s full-length debut album Beauty In The Dark, introduced new analog synth textures to the band’s sound. The album takes a journey from the sultry shoegaze of “I Can’t Believe” and swirling atmospherics on “You’re Trying Too Hard” to the dreamy romance of “Waking Up With You,” which led Rolling Stone to praise, "With its dreamy jangle and dramatic delivery, ‘Waking Up With You’ nods to the glory days of shimmering college-rock, back when groups like 10,000 Maniacs and the Sundays briefly ruled the roost."
Songs from Beauty In The Dark have been licensed by numerous television series and films, including the upcoming Focus Features film, The High Note (in which the band also makes a subtle cameo), the upcoming Netflix film Desperados, MTV’s Teen Mom OG and YouTube Premium’s Impulse.