Nightbus - Passenger

Having tantalised us with their fast-sold-out So Young 7”s, we were all psyched to catch the Nightbus and head further into the nocturnal world of vocalist Olive Rees and her partner in crime Jake Cottier. Their hypnotic debut album flickers in ultraviolet, is awash with cinematic soundscapes, and is one for those who still feel Italians Do It Better. It tells dark tales of disassociation, co-dependency, and addiction - engulfed in a regretful nostalgia, yet simultaneously
pulsing with youthful optimism. 

Ominous bass, reverb heavy melodies, dread-filled loops, 90s trip-hop, indie sleaze and electronica all oscillate in unison on their dystopian dancefloor. Doom, uncertainty, and opportunity lurk in the shadowy corners of their murky existence. Imagine if The Cure didn’t get lost in a forest and instead slinked their way through a 90s house dancefloor and then disappeared into a dreampop haze…or rather than lying back for a post-coitus smoke, Cigarettes After Sex ventured out to scour Manchester’s backstreets for a filthy warehouse party but got there just as “the blue pill meets the red, the ups become downs”, and night merges into the day - that liminal space where anything is possible…but where things are definitely going to get messy.

It’s that night out that melts into the comfort of the early hours, where no-one wants to head home and the next day’s plans gradually diffuse into the smoke haze as bodies sprawl on the floor of whoever has the nearest crash pad.