Today, one of our favorite, pseudo-local bands, nightly, drops the alternative EP version of their debut LP, 2020’s night, love you. This alt. ep, as they’ve dubbed it, features four fan favorite tracks in a different, reimagined light. Acoustic spins, live versions, and stripped sessions take nightly’s multifaceted talents to incomparable levels.
(Even just taking a look at their artistic ability, they didn’t stray too far from their authentic selves or the originality of the full-length record. The album artwork for this new EP is the same as the LP, except in an opposite color. From white to black, the design is still the same, so listeners can recognize the similarities and differences between the style of the original songs and those that have been reinvented.)
Opening the four-piece record is a stripped down version of “not like you.” It’s a jazzy, finger-snap driven song that puts emphasis on the widespread musicality within the hearts of each band member. There’s a strong connection between every intricately layered piece of music, and I believe that it wouldn’t be depicted as wonderfully if nightly themselves didn’t consciously pay attention to all of the roles they play as vocalists, lyricists, and musicians – even within simply crafted and reinvented existing tracks.
“So sly” and “summer” follow up the introductory track for a warm, goose-bump-raising six minutes of music. Putting these two songs back-to-back is like asking fans and subsequent listens to either A) fall into a pit of heart wrenching ‘feels,’ as the kids call it, or B) jump right into their car to drive through their hometown blasing these songs on a loop. They’re vastly different tracks, but sonically play off one another like nothing else. The flow between the uptempo, slightly vexed, but oh-so-gratifying “so sly” and the truly acoustic, benevolent, and strikingly alluring “summer” is almost too flawless. (But nightly knew what they were doing on this alternative EP, all the way down to the order of these four songs. As Jonathan Capeci told AQ back in October, the band works hard to create flow within their tracklists. “If you do listen to [night, love you.] top to bottom, a lot of the songs will kind of transition from one to another sort of seamlessly without a stop […].”)
Closing out the record is a live acoustic version of “older.” Nightly’s “older” has always been a superb recount of all the songwriting talents found within this Nashville-by-way-of-tristate-area band. They outdid themselves on their very own track, though. A once wholly original and extraordinary song is now even more charming and relatable with astronomically stronger vocal runs and extremely memorable guitar riffs. (Acoustic guitar riffs, of course.) Many people already knew just how dedicated and creative nightly is, but this alt. EP breaks down the fourth wall between obvious talent and supreme versatility. Nightly reimagined four already stellar indie pop tracks off of their debut album and somehow made them each even more special, whimsical, emotive, and heartwarming than ever before.
The alt. EP of night, love you. by nightly is out NOW on all streaming platforms!
