Niights - Hellebores
Cleveland’s avant-garde dream pop outfit Niights recently dropped a new album, called Hellebores, a title of some significance.
Niights
The hellebore is a toxic winter-flowering plant that resembles a rose, but is not a rose. The two most common species of the hellebores are the Lenten Rose and the Christmas Rose, which according to legend, was formed by an angel’s touch, as a gift for Madelon to present to the Christ child in Bethlehem. Highly toxic, the hellebore is considered one of the four definitive poisons, along with nightshade, hemlock, and aconite.
Niights is fronted by singer-songwriter Jenna Fournier, and includes Frankie Maraldo (guitar), Jeremy Dodge (drums), and Jacob Chandler (bass, synths). The band dropped their debut EP, A Tangle of Arms, in 2010, followed by their debut album, Whisper, three years later. They then signed with Japan’s 2670 Records, and took off on tour, followed by signing with Tragic Hero Records, which re-mixed and re-released Whisper. In 2017, Fournier dropped a solo EP.
Niights sound blends dream-pop, ‘90s shoegaze, and elements of denser melodic rock into music reminiscent of the Smashing Pumpkins during their seminal years.
“Keyhole” might be my favorite track on the album because of its hefty alt-rock feel amalgamated with gusty, dirty guitars, providing a scrumptious contrast to Fournier’s elevated, pop-flavored tones.
With 12-tracks, Hellebores begins with “Intro,” a gleaming stream of textures and colors that’s almost psychedelic in nature. Subsequent to “Intro,” the best tracks include “Generate,” reminiscent of The Cranberries because of its jangly, shimmering guitars and Fournier’s gossamer, sylph-like voice.
“So Into You” begins coyly, riding pale colors and a light beat, and then blooms into surging dream-pop harmonics full of wall-of-sound glistening guitars topped by Fournier’s deliciously high tones, frail but simultaneously alluring with a camouflaged muscularity.
“Stars” opens on gentle, flickering guitar riffs, as Fournier’s mesmerizing timbres drift overhead, dream-like and gauzy. There’s a pensive, creamy charisma to the tune that captivates, like watching fairies flutter over a field of flowers. Well into the song, deep, dense colors ramp up, infusing the tune with dark energy, prior to descending once again.
“Keyhole” might be my favorite track on the album because of its hefty alt-rock feel amalgamated with gusty, dirty guitars, providing a scrumptious contrast to Fournier’s elevated, pop-flavored tones. The title track really changes colors, opening on doom-like thick, heavy hues flowing into ‘80s metal dynamics.
Hellebores is excellent, delivering two distinct styles of music: iridescent dream-pop, as well as tighter, brawny rock momentum.
