Shoegaze band Niights is making its way to Columbia on March 3, bringing a unique hybrid sound in tow.
Hailing from Cleveland, Ohio, the band was formed in 2010 when lead vocalist Jenna Fournier joined a pre-existing band as a singer-songwriter. Frankie Maraldo and Fournier are the self-proclaimed main members of Niights, having played together for nine years. Fournier finds the genre of music that Niights performs is a combination of several genres that create their own unique sound.
“We call it a hybrid because it’s kind of a blend between dream pop and alternative rock and shoegaze,” Fournier said.
The band’s second full-length album, “Hellebores,” is described by Jeff Niesel of newspaper Cleveland Scene as an album that “successfully shows off the band’s musical range.” The name for the album is derived from a type of flower that blooms in the winter. Fournier found this flower whilst looking for something that “grows in difficult conditions” to represent the album.
“The overarching theme is about growth and transition, coming out of a dark place to better mental health,” Fournier said. “That’s basically my life story.”
The album’s release was separated into two parts. The band intended to have a light side and a dark side to the album. Anne Nickoloff of Cleveland.com said the album’s design is related to the “symbolic duality” of the flower.
“The first part of the record is upbeat shimmery [and] the second half [is] full of darker metal and heavy rock songs,” Nickoloff writes. “They’re the white and black sides of the album, similar to the positive and negative symbolism of the hellebores flower.”
“We broke it up because some of the songs are really heavy and started introducing our metal influences and then some of the songs are really poppy,” Fournier said. “We wanted to kind of separate the pop songs and the rock songs.”
“Hellebores Pt. I” was released on Jan. 4, featuring many poppy songs and a lighter sound. “Hellebores Pt. II” dropped on Feb. 15, introducing the metal influences of the band and a much darker sound. Despite the sharp contrast between the two sounds, Fournier was not expecting the positive public reception.
“I’m actually surprised that people are receiving it as well as they are,” Fournier said. “I was kind of concerned that it was going to be hard to swallow after such a poppy first half.”
While the band’s show in Columbia will be its first time visiting the city, they are excited to visit and encourage MU students to come out in support of not only them but other artists they share the stage with, like Elvis Depressedly, The Cordial Sins and local band Tiny Cactus. Niights will play as part of Elvis Depressedly’s tour at Rose Music Hall on March 3.
_Edited by Joe Cross | jcross@themaneater.com_
