We review Nightfall – the new album by Little Big Town – and reveal our stand-out tracks from the record.
Little Big Town have perennially been known somewhat as the ‘outliers’ in country music. They have always known their own style and character as a band, sticking to their guns and musical integrity. They have not ricocheted to fame but have grafted, honing their craft and style, earning a legion of fans and a musical legacy that has real staying power. Releasing songs that others would have been afraid to touch – just look at their initial hits like ‘Pontoon‘ and even later with ‘Girl Crush‘ – they have crafted a place that is wholly theirs. Each release of theirs, from ‘Pain Killer‘ to ‘The Breaker‘ and now ‘Nightfall,’ have made different profound statements in ways that only truly talented musicians are able to do. In this release, Little Big Town dive deeper, making statements that are both pertinent to the modern age and refreshingly honest and vulnerable comments on their personal lives. What is also clear is that the band have aimed to create a beautiful project in its entirety, with each track tenderly handled, rather than gunning for huge radio hits. The quality of the record is tremendous and one of those records that will stay with you and grow on you with every listen.
The album opens with the gorgeous ‘Next To You,’ and the stamp of Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk on the album is immediately clear. Here, the sublime vocals and harmonies, that are Little Big Town’s trademark, are tenderly accented with an almost staccato reverb. The track reveals the raw and real side of relationships – some of the lyrics could have been taken from any normal conversation in an average household – in a way that is almost painful in its familiarity.
‘Wait, I didn’t mean to say it like that.’
‘I know I don’t say it enough, I’ve been down on my love… I’ll be fine in the morning next to you.’
Even amidst the normalising of tensions and friction within the track, love underpins all here – ‘You’re the fire in my bones’ – in a way that sets the tone and scene for the rest of the album. Transitioning into ‘Nightfall,’ reveals a more sultry, sexy side to the quartet. ‘Let the dark remember what we’re fighting for, full moon make your magic.’ There are far more ethereal elements embedded in this track that are reminiscent of Musgraves’ Golden Hour, and the song as a whole exhibits the poetic nature of Little Big Town’s lyricism that is both fun and poignant. The guitar riff at the end is a masterstroke.
On ‘Forever and a Night,’ Phillip Sweet gets his moment at the fore. It is interesting that in this their ninth studio album, the lead vocal seems far more balanced between the four; it is a mark of the wealth of different elements in the album – embodied under one powerful Nightfall unit – that each of their unique vocal strengths is needed at differing points. Here, the rawness of Sweet’s vocal is needed to counteract the gospel-infused track. This is a more soulful track and no other vocal could have complimented it so well. The dynamics that Tashian and Fitchuk have used here are simply stunning and are a mark of why they are the vogue producers at the moment – their power lying in the restraint they use on some tracks.
Kimberley Schlapman takes the lead instead on the groovier ‘Throw Your Love Away,’ intro-ing with an acoustic guitar, with different instrumentation added building into the track, to the beautifully layered harmony in the chorus, and Schlapman’s vocal soars in the verses. ‘Over Drinking,’ by contrast, is definitely the most traditional country sounding song on the album. Here the band sing of being over the one who broke their heart, yet the song is upbeat and catchy. If we were tipping a track to be the standout ‘radio’ single, this would be it. ‘Over Drinking”s succeeding track on the album is the most surprising and incongruous moment on the album – ‘Wine, Beer, Whiskey.’ Though some have disqualified the track as an odd moment, I would argue that this track, placed sixth on the album, is needed to elevate the record and provide a moment of reprieve from the surrounding emotional overload. Sonically it stands out, but if you view the record in a traditional ‘Side A’ and ‘Side B’ format, then it makes more sense, and yet more so, if you view the album as something to be translated live. Still, the production veers into sounds that sound almost more Mexican than Little Big Town, and is a curious choice on the whole.
Slightly clunkily, the album then transitions into ‘Questions,’ that along with ‘Sugar Coat,’ provides one of the most heart-wrenching moment on the album. It is a stand-out moment, emotionally, on the album, exploring the reality of a relationship once it is over and all the questions of what an ex’s life is now like, alone. Similarly memorably heartbreaking is ‘Sugar Coat.’ The emotion contained within the track is palpable, with Fairchild’s voice beginning to crack at points with the weight of her emotional response. The track (and its accompanying video) are simply stunning, and feel very pertinent to the current plight of women, not just in music but in the world generally.
‘The Daughters’ is another moment of real focus on women. On first listen, this was a track I instantly loved. It is beautifully tender, a love note not just to the band’s daughters but to women generally – ‘I’ve heard of God the Son and God the Father, I’m just looking for a God for the daughters’ and is almost painfully tender and wistful.
In ‘River of Stars,’ Karen and Jimi share the lead vocal, resulting in a deliciously romantic and dreamily ethereal track, before Jimi takes the lead on ‘Problem Child,’ leading the album in a different direction again. Opening as a piano ballad, Jimi’s lead vocal is another masterful stroke and an astute choice to match with this particular track. This one delves deeper again into issues surrounding anxiety and loneliness – “Why don’t you fit in? Why don’t you add up? …What’s your problem, child?”. The instrumentation too is a magic touch, with a piano opening and astute use of strings throughout. Paired with ‘Bluebird,’ these tracks really appear to lead Little Big Town in a different sonic direction, that was hinted at in Breaker, helmed by the shake-up in vocal lead. Ethereal in nature and content, it is a pretty song that showcases Karen’s vocals, appearing as a nod to The Beatles’ ‘Blackbird,’ in lyrical content and sonically. It sums up the attitude of the album generally, but is not a huge standout moment for the band.
‘Trouble with Forever,’ however, is the most heartbreakingly beautiful track on the album, right down to the final strains of their signature four-part harmony that round out the album. This is my favourite track on the album and exemplifies just what is so powerful about Little Big Town – their harmonies, their lyricism and their musical vision, not selling out to become a standout radio hit, but create real magic, through being so true to themselves. ‘The trouble with forever is it always ends‘ and the trouble with Nightfall is it ends – so you put it on repeat, because this artistic masterpiece deserves it.
It was a shrewd choice to take their nationwide US tour to more intimate venues and theatres, as this album really needs that kind of setting to translate well. It is a tender album that has delved deeply into the intricacies of each band member’s personal relationships, family life and own insecurities, surrounded by wider conversations around mental health, equality and the modern world. It’s a huge statement of an album and it is incredible that they’ve managed to pack so much into 13 tracks. This is an artistic, cleverly created and masterfully produced record that has real staying power – an album that you’ll either ignore (to your detriment) or be totally enthralled by. We, for one, are totally and utterly in its thrall.
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Editor’s Picks
Trouble with Forever
Sugar Coat
Nightfall
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