Night Tapes – Swim
London-based 3-piece Night Tapes share new single “Swim,” alongside the announcement of the deluxe edition of their acclaimed debut album, portals//polarities, out July 24th via Nettwerk.
On “Swim,” the band says, “Might as well turn on the light when there is a lion in the room, and if it’s too scary to look at it straight on, glance at it from 45 degrees. It’s a long process to know thyself.”
Mixing personal and political, Night Tapes’ music thrives on humanity and connection. Making music together in a shared house in southeast London, the songs of Iiris Vesik, Max Doohan, and Sam “Richie” Richards had to be quiet to avoid disturbing neighbours. “It was about capturing the vibe of the house,” Vesik remembers, then realising that the songs “became time capsules of the different places we were.”For Richards, each song comes with a specific and clear memory of the surroundings in which it was created. “It feels like a flipbook of that time,” he says.
“The album is an exploration of energies and an exploration into my soul. I go into the spectrality of my being and into different polarities within myself. I would like to understand myself and to understand the relationships I have with myself and others because I’m trying to change the small things in order to tackle the big ones. I’m just trying to be as honest as possible because lies are prisons. I’m from a country that used to be under authoritarian rule. I am really grateful to have been born in a free country, and I value freedom above most things,” Estonian-born Iiris, who was in the womb during the Singing Revolution that freed her country, says of the record.
Three electronic producers with a penchant for analogue, Night Tapes exist in a world that is dreamy and widescreen with plenty of bite. Debut single “Forever” now sits on 10 million streams on Spotify and became an underground hit through the pandemic. Traditional song structures often handbrake turn into dissonant noise or extended ambient sections, blurring the lines between band and studio project in new and exciting ways.
With portals//polarities, they have made an album that dreams big but is defined by how daringly human and real it is, capturing once-in-a-lifetime moments and happy accidents to make music that feels truly, beautifully alive.
Night Tapes are Iiris Vesik, Max Doohan and Sam Richards.
The band have announced a handful of US shows this fall, including Austin City Limits, Miami, and Pioneertown. The band are also confirmed to play Capitol Hill Block Party, Outside Lands, and Up In The Sky festivals this summer.
Tour Dates
*Festival Appearance
June 25 – Electric Forest – Rothbury, MI*
July 4 – Tartu Punch – Tartu, Estonia
July 11 – KiKuMu – Jäneda Õppekeskus, Estonia
August 6 – King Concert Summer Series – Jackson Hole, WY*
August 7 – Up In The Sky Festival – Aspen, CO*
August 8 – Capitol Hill Block Party – Seattle, WA*
August 9 – Outside Lands – San Francisco, CA*
August 13 – Sziget Festival – Budapest, Hungary
August 30 – Shambala Festival – Northamptonshire, UK
September 4 – Brighton Psych Fest – Brighton, UK
September 5 – Manchester Psych Fest – Manchester, UK
October 3 – Austin City Limits – Austin, TX*
October 8 – Zeyzey – Miami, FL
October 10 – Austin City Limits – Austin, TX*
October 15 – Pappy & Harriets – Pioneertown, CA
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