Listened to the new Tancred album Nightstand for the first time & wrote about it while I did. Not an in depth review, just a collection of thoughts I had on my first listen
You can find Nightstand on Bandcamp here, get an immediate download if you pre-order from Polyvinyl over here or stream it on yr platform of choice once it hits Friday the 1st of June wherever you are
Song One
Very much into how sweeping this intro is, those strings are fantastic
Queen of New York
I like how the production makes every instrument in this song pack a punch. That little bridge-y part at about 1:20 is tight. The whole thing is catchy as hell, the lyrics are tight & ooh that solo rules. Into it
Apple Tree Girl
Dang this is tight, the way the strings swell in is fantastic & the way everything shifts gears as the band kicks in in full is very rad
Hot Star
I like the guitar part on the verses of this tune a lot, they’re low key in a really cool way that works well with what everything else is doing. I like the almost Humbug-esque vibe to the outro & breakdown-y part
Clipping
Was already enjoying this & then that (again kinda Humbug-y) guitar part came crashing in & I liked it even more. I like the slightly more laid back tempo & layered production of this song a lot, Abbott’s vocals are v dope here too. Oh shit this string backed build up in the second half of the song is great. Yeah this is probably my favourite song on here so far, feel like every different layer is doing something rad & can’t wait to listen to it again & dig deeper
Something Else
Dig how immediate this song is right from the get go, there’s a raw energy to the fuzzy guitar & drums that works really well coming straight out of ‘Clipping.’ Was already betting this would go off live & then that glorious but gone too soon guitar lead came in right at the end & confirmed it. Another early standout
Underwear
The piano on this has such an imposing weight to it & I love it. The whole thing sounds huge & stomping. Goddamn this middle run of tracks just keeps getting better, this outro / second half is just as grand & gigantic as the first. What a tune
Just You
I like the use of space & quiet on this track & how dynamic it makes the song feel even though the heavier parts in this first half are still comparatively restrained given the previous track. Another v rad track
Strawberry Selfish
Ooh the vocals on this song are nice, I like the low key ominous vibe to the instruments like something is ever so slightly off. Another song where the production really helps highlight how good the songwriting is for every part of the song
Reviews
Another song I can see being a whole lot of fun to see live. This whole middle-to-late album run has been fantastic & this song is no exception
Rowing
Just over half a minute in & I really like how this is building. Equally down with both the quieter parts of this & the bigger moments & like the way each part feels perfect for an album closer
OVERALL: V keen to go back & listen to this again & see if those first couple of tracks sound different now that I’ve listened to the whole thing cos from ‘Hot Star’ on this is just a whole different level of great. There are so many fantastic sounding parts in each layer of each song & I can’t wait to spend more time with this & dig deeper into every part. Jess has once again done a fantastic job & given us a great collection of tunes
REPEATER 
2 thoughts on “First Impression: Nightstand by Tancred”