Nightstop - Dancing Killer (2017)

Nightstop’s career is remarkable not just for its excellence, but also for its evolution. Early releases like 2013’s Fuel EP offered an essential synthwave sound that embraced central elements of the still-young style, namely bright melodies on retro synthesizers that recalled ‘80s pop music and sun-soaked images of coastal cities like Los Angeles and Miami. Several songs embodied the outrun attitude that was popular early in the genre with energetic beats and driving themes, i.e. “Drive-by Stalking” and “LA Heat.” Later, on Return to Synth City, and especially Streetwalker, Nightstop delved deeper into the burgeoning darksynth style by delivering songs with coarse textures, brooding melodies, and sinister song titles.

It should therefore come as no surprise that Dancing Killer is no mere continuation of an established sound; like its forebears, it is a breakthrough recording that grasps the fundamental character of Nightstop’s music and propels it into ambitious new territory. For much of the running length, Nightstop has chosen to set aside the well-worn tools of the past and create fresh effects and musical elements that cannot properly be compared to anything that has come before. That willingness to invest time and energy into new ideas pays off throughout the bulk of the recording, and the listener begins reaping the rewards immediately.

The album opens with the rigid, downtempo beat of “Flesh,” on which a moody bassline dances with dreamy background notes before being intercepted by a pair of stunningly lucid melodies. Just when it seems the song has introduced its final layer, a luxurious saxophone solo breaks in to add a new dimension. The track gracefully weaves through multiple sections, generously introducing new ideas and releasing others, never afraid to sacrifice the length of a remarkable musical moment for the song’s greater good. It is a complex piece of music that reveals its range of emotions selectively, and it serves as an enticing invitation to explore the rest of the album.

The next few songs revive some of the bright synth melodies familiar to listeners of early Nightstop and other pillars of the genre such as Lost Years. However, these classic sounds are woven together with delicate and detailed percussion in intelligent pieces of songwriting that outshine the straightforward simplicity of the genre’s past. Although these songs tread the most familiar ground of all the album’s entries, they never fall into the ruts that force many of Nightstop’s contemporaries into predictable patterns.