Vansleep Shine with "Streetlights"
Alex Matthew
Scottish alt-rock four piece Vansleep return with the closing single to their trilogy of 2018 releases in “Streetlights”, a song which rounds off the band’s year in ferociously funky style. The frighteningly easy to fall in love with track marks new heights for this exciting up and coming group who have been one to keep your eye on for some time now!
“After the general success of ‘Get Up’ we wanted to put out something that people were a bit more familiar with, this is a bit of an oldie. Yet we wanted everyone to see just how much the track has progressed and subsequently just how we have progressed as a band. It’s changed a fair bit from it’s original state but we believe for the better and we hope it’ll be just as well received now as it was when we first began playing it back when we started out.”
Above the ever affable Kyle MacRitchie, lead vocalist and guitarist of Vansleep, speaking to PurCulture about his group’s latest single release “Streetlights” which marks the close of an impressive year for the young alt-rock band. 2018 has seen them release their first three singles, play multiple gigs around Scotland outside their home town of Aberdeen and even collect an award for Best Newcomer at the 2018 Fudge Awards. Their latest single which drops today (Friday 7th December) is their best yet!
Vansleep’s debut release arrived in May of this year in the form of the glossy pop-varnished “Get Up” which firmly established MacRitchie’s talent for crafting extremely effective and catchy hooks which firmly lodge themselves like strong anchors in the crevices of your mind. The same could be said for the talents of guitarist Keir Smith who’s groovy guitar riffs punctuated the song and help to further it’s pounding momentum.
The group’s follow up single, “Lover”, arrived several months after in late summer following a productive season in which they ventured outside of their home-town of Aberdeen to perform at events such as the Belladrum Tarten Heart Festival. Despite retaining several of the group’s key core elements, “Lover” is a problematic beast of a song. It represented an admirable shift in direction for the quartet’s sound as they realigned their focus from attractive indie-pop to a darker sounding alt-rock. Yet where “Get Up” stood tall, excelling in areas such as it’s vibrant instrumentation and energetic vocal performance “Lover” stalled by comparison sounding muddy and without a clear focus.
Vansleep playing Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival this summer
“Streetlights” is where the two previous singles come to meet as if they were strangers on a winter’s night mistakenly bumping into each other beneath the hazy orange glow of a nearby lamppost.
With this latest release Vansleep demonstrate the maturity of a band far greater than one would expect from their youthful age by displaying the Radiohead-esque ability to take what works best about each of the previous singles whilst shedding the elements which dragged them down. This results in “Streetlights”, a track which propels the boys to new levels of brilliance.
The song is the perfect example of a group working not as four individuals but as one with each member complementing the other in delightful manner. In some tunes this can come off as sounding manufactured and appearing too well produced with the resulting track bearing a dangerous lack of true emotion. “Streetlights”, however, walks this slender tightrope with a likeable style. The reciprocation between the skilful unit results in not one of it’s accomplished members feeling under served.
MacRitchie’s lyricism returns in it’s most impressive form yet, proving his ability to display tender and emotionally resonating wordplay but still retain his astounding hooks. The lines are simplistic but similar to other rock groups like Catfish and the Bottlemen, that’s exactly what makes them so effective. It’s accompanied by a touching vocal performance, delivery of lines later on in the track such as “I just wish I could sing your songs better, for you” or “I guess we weren’t that great together, anyway” truly conveying the pain and heartbreak MacRitchie is suffering through.
“I would say 'Streetlights' is quite an honest song, the lyrics are very literal. I guess you could say that it’s a bit of a love song. From a writer’s perspective it was written as a classic song about a girl from my point of view. It’s just kind of a what you hear is what you get type tune. I think it’s quite cool in that sense!”
Smith’s guitar work once again shows him to be of an incredibly high standard for such a young player with his gorgeous efforts front and centre throughout almost the entire runtime, only taking a backseat to raise and further complement his peers. His charming funky melodies are just as infectious as the vocal hooks, increasing the heavy emotional intensity established by MacRitchie’s vocals and furthering it’s strong impact on the listener. Credit must be given to the track’s producer, Mark Morrow, for the smokey psychedelic-esque effects he layers upon Smith’s playing which only further aid it’s grooviness.
Whilst the unsung heroes of the song have to be the brilliant double act of Bryn McLernon on bass alongside Ross Henderson on drums. The duo raise the song from a good one to a great one with McLernon’s powerful bass rhythms punctuating the piece throughout as well as further elevating his fellow band mate’s parts in the manner only the best musicians do. Similarly Henderson’s herculean drumming helps to give the track the supreme punch it packs, whilst adding to it’s memorable beat. With him having recently departed the group it’s a bittersweet ending as he exits with such an impressive final recorded performance.
“Streetlights” succeeds in propelling Vansleep from an impressive Aberdonian band to one who look like they could be set to join the ranks of superb Scottish groups such as The Snuts and Retro Video Club in the coming couple years. Combining each of the group’s previous releases strengths to build a track filled with hard-hitting lyricism, gorgeously funky guitar melodies and a powerful dark energy “Streetlights” successfully sets a new high water mark for Vansleep.
Luckily you’ll be able to catch “Streetlights” live in the imminent future with Vansleep landing an elusive supporting slot later this month.
“We’re supporting Retro Video Club on 15th December at Tunnels Aberdeen. Live, we enjoy things to have a fair amount of energy. We like songs to have a bit more of a certain edge when played (live), to have them seem more real. We want to get people up and dancing and we want them to have a laugh. We don’t take ourselves too seriously and I think that’s a good thing. The only thing we treat with complete seriousness is the music. Hopefully people can feel something when they come see us live, that’s all we really want…”
… and with electrifying tunes like “Streetlights” I’m certain they will!
