Back in January, Night Tapes‘ “drifting” popped up on a late-night playlist, and its hazy, nocturnal vibe instantly hooked me. I included it on the Friday playlist that week, but I didn’t expect it to be as addictive as it has been. I won’t share the play count, but it’s been a top 5 played song every month since. It was joined in February by “television”, another dreamy, funky, groovy, melodic earworm:
I guess I assumed some things about the band, and it wasn’t until I was writing about Hiqpy that this performance video1 found me and urged me to dig deeper:
Until then, I honestly didn’t think Night Tapes was a full band, much less one with a deep catalogue and a great live show. I’ve been absolutely taken with their music since watching it. Singer Iiris Vesik’s falsetto is transcendent and her stage presence is magnetic.
Then last Friday (April 4), they released the dark, breakbeat-driven ‘babygirl (like no1 else)”, and it’s their best yet:
Night Tapes is Vesik, Max Doohan, and Sam Richards. Their first single was released way back in 2019, and it has been a steady stream of EPs since: Dream Forever In Glorious Stereo and Download Spirit in 2021, Perfect Kindness in 2023, and last year’s 7-track Assisted Memories. As they’ve progressed, their sound has evolved as well, incorporating more live instrumentation and a broader range of styles. They also genuinely record late at night. From this profile on Roland2:
Everything we’ve ever done started from the bedrooms of South London, then we upgraded to a living room, and now we’re in a studio, and it all feels very new[…]Recording during the day isn’t conducive to a band called Night Tapes, and working into the late hours makes quite a big difference to how we sound.
It’s easy for musicians in this style to fall into traps — to a casual fan, dreampop is often either saccharine and superficial, or ephemeral background music. Night Tapes has avoided these traps since day one. There’s a ton of character and dynamism in their music, from the breakbeats on ‘babygirl’, to the Jamiroquai-bass-funk of “drifting” to the his-and-hers vocals on the ethereal “waterfall” – it’s never boring.
Night Tapes’ dreamy soundscapes sometimes feel like a late-night drive through a neon-lit city, blending nostalgia with fresh energy. Their evolution from bedroom recordings to a fuller, live-instrument sound shows in every track, and Iiris Vesik’s distinct vocal ties it all together. Whether it’s the funky groove of “Drifting” or the hypnotic pull of “Babygirl (Like No1 Else),” there’s a depth here that keeps me coming back.
Turns out I missed them in Toronto back in January when they opened for L’Imperatrice, but if this series of singles is leading to a full-length record release, maybe there’s a headline tour in the making.
