The Nightmares – Séance | Album Review

The Nightmares suffer from an abundance of comparisons to bands like Creeper and The Cure, but their debut album withstands scrutiny on its own merits.

It’s a goth-rock band! It’s a post-punk noir-pop outfit! It’s The Nightmares! Okay, so The Nightmares sound like Creeper and The Cure had a baby who wasn’t a theatre kid like their parents. Voilà. Now, with the necessary comparisons out the way, does their debut album Séance withstand scrutiny on its own merits (or lack thereof) amidst a flood of new music? In short, yes.

During the COVID pandemic, The Nightmares experimented with seances. As bassist Benjamin T. Mainwaring stated,, the music they created was born out of their shared love of the macabre and wanting to express darker thoughts and deeper emotions. Their lyrical themes of death, love, and mourning, thus, take center stage, surrounded by tasteful instruments and vocals.

Eleanor Coburn’s synths and keys provide the majority of the atmosphere. Her synths are neither overpowering nor boring, walking the fine line between the common errors of synth-driven rock bands. Not content with hiding behind the keyboards, Coburn provides backup vocals, but she shines best next to Adam Parslow under the spotlight on tracks like “From Above,” “Cursed,” and “Let The Light In.” If Liz Fraser wore black, this is what she’d sound like.

The South Wales quartet are experts at creating a dark, ambient texture, creating the perfect accompaniment to those 2 a.m. drives or lonely sleepless nights. “Evermore” is a classic love song, but a sax provides a beautiful solo that leads into the requisite piano ballad. Don’t take “requisite” to mean “mailed in”, however – this is a gorgeous break just before the driving penultimate track. While they hit the autotune slightly too hard, “Let The Light In” is a perfect change of pace before Séance wraps up.

One of the most artful decisions on Séance is Adam Parslow’s monotone vocals. In a genre saturated with affected vocals, Parslow wisely holds back the emotion. Instead, the exhaustion and bleakness of the quartet’s music slips in from between Coburn’s keys and James Mattock’s slow drums. When Creeper frontman Will Gould features on “Murder Season,” the different vocal styles are obvious. The Nightmares don’t join the theatrics. They let other artists handle the drama. As the show goes on inside, The Nightmares play outside for the people who are tired of the theatrics. Life hits different people in all manner of ways, and The Nightmares are here for those who maybe don’t have the energy to put on makeup and dye their hair black.

The Nightmares would sound great if they were genre trailblazers. Séance is a record that sounds like a third or fourth outing, not a debut. Top-notch melodies, gorgeous synths, and a twilight atmosphere thanks to the warm bass, supportive drums and graceful guitar make this a strong first album and a warm hug for those who need it. The Nightmares stand confidently on their own.