‘I’ve seen a dead man walking, I’ve seen his heart rot on the vine, I cried for ages trying, Just to shake him outta my mind’ (Dead Man)

Nyx Division are back with the follow-up to their 2022 debut, Dark Star.   Midnight Lights sees the Portland band continue to explore the edgelands of where the uplifting swing of 1980s’ new wave and the melancholic shades of post-punk intertwine and fuse into new forms.  Musically and aesthetically, it is an album that draws with equal relish on both of these influences to conjure a claustrophobic, gothic shrouded tableau.

Beneath the glittering veneer of neon lights and late-night hedonism though lies a much darker reality.  Midnight Lights tells the story of vocalist Domino Monet’s escape from a relationship mired in domestic abuse, and how it is only on breaking free that she has been able to comprehend the resilience and strength that it took for her survive, and to shed the chains of normalised violence.

Mournfully serpentine melodies that morph into boldly strutting metal-tinged solos and a punchily limber rhythm section form the band’s bedrock.  Yet, perhaps, it is the vocals that deliver the defining energy as the waves of catchy hooks and soaring choruses vividly contrast with Monet’s own lived experiences.  It is a heady blend of baroque theatre and infectious pop sensibility that comes together to particularly striking effect on the darkly propulsive Dead Man, the defiant euphoria of Soldier Of Love, and the anthemic bombast of Desert Rose.