by Heather Williams (@heatermeow)
Nightshift's Zöe is the soundtrack to slow dancing alone in your room with some twinkling color lights on. The inimitable band broadcasts to the world from Glasgow and this beautifully angular prism of an album comes to us via Trouble in Mind Records out of Chicago, IL. This album has been a true musical companion for getting through this pandemic winter and it is an album that was created during the lockdowns where members recorded their parts separately from afar. The sounds of isolation and yet, togetherness, are evident throughout this record and it is an important snapshot of this moment in time.
Zöe starts off with "Piece Together," a quiet and shimmering track that is deeply contemplative as the edges begin to fray toward the end with sounds of uncertainty slowly arising underneath. This feeds directly into "Spray Paint the Bridge," a lovingly off-kilter song with the clarinet acting as anchor. Escaping the chaos by "heading to the mountains where nobody cares" leads us directly into "Outta Space.” This song feels like being in a parallel universe, surrounded by the soothing sounds of the dissonant plucking of rubber band guitar strings pulling at the outsides of your mind.
"Make Kin" is like a computer becoming cognizant and excitedly hanging out in nature, followed by attending a wonderfully weird dance party. "Fences" is the quintessential track for dancing alone in a room and it is also fun to loudly sing the back up vocals for the line, "It's all so unexpected." "Power Cut" is a beautifully wandering seven minute song to sway to, letting that wailing clarinet solo hit you right in the core, the galloping and hopping bass lines to lift you up. Get lost in this one with a good pair of headphones. "Infinity Winner" takes us out into vast open nature where the guitar rallies sound like bells ringing out across the mountains. "Receipts" ends the album as it began. Slowing it down and becoming contemplative once again, momentarily considering the calming quiet and where we go from here in the midst of tumultuous times.