Unquiet Nights is an outstanding rock band I’ve been following for seven years and have featured several times on this blog. Originally started in 2006 as a solo project by Luke Mathers, a talented singer-songwriter and guitarist from Belfast, Northern Ireland, with  the help of Rodger Firmin on drums he began recording songs for what would become the first Unquiet Nights album 21st Century Redemption Songs. In 2010, Luke moved to Italy, where he eventually finished and released the album. He was later joined by Italian musicians Francesco Piciucchi on bass and keyboards, and drummer Matteo Bussotti for live shows, though Rodger still played drums on their recordings. 

In 2015 they released their beautiful second album Postcards in Real Time. One of the tracks from that album, “George Best City”, which was never released as a single but was used in the Federico Buffa Racconta documentary series, landed them several live national appearances on Italian TV stations, and became their best known and most successful song, garnering more than half a million streams on Spotify alone as of today. Mathers eventually moved back to Belfast in 2016, where he continues to record and release music with Firmin and Piciucchi as Unquiet Nights. In 2022, they released a compilation album First Ten (2012-2022), a sort of ‘greatest hits so far’ work commemorating the 10-year anniversary of their debut album 21st Century Redemption Songs. They followed two years later with their third studio album Seasons in Exile, released last January (2024). I reviewed the album’s lead single “Diamond and the Missing Son”, which ended up ranking #11 on my 100 Best Indie Songs of 2024 list, and #65 on my 100 Best Songs of 2024 overall list. (Also, their 2019 single “Four Winds“ ranks #76 on my list of 100 Best Songs for that year.)

Now they’re back with a double single “Everything Seductive”/”Straight To The Ground” which, like all their music, was produced by Mathers, and mixed and mastered by Neal Calderwood. The songs were recorded during the Season in Exile sessions, but since they didn’t fit in with that album’s storyline concept, they weren’t included. Both being excellent songs, Unquiet Nights decided to release them now as stand-alone singles. The first, or A-side “Everything Seductive”, is an exuberant foot-stomping rocker, with fuzz-coated gnarly guitars punctuated here and there by twangy notes and accompanied by Fermin’s urgent drumbeats. Mathers’ commanding vocals nicely convey a sense of sad resignation as he sings of a romantic love affair that’s hit its end, leaving him feeling dejected and wondering what went wrong: “Tell her I’m discouraged, and she should know the reason why. Everything seductive in this life just seems to pass me by.“

The B-side “Straight To The Ground” is more personal for Mathers, who told me he never had the opportunity to meet one of his grandads because he died of a heart attack after the IRA (Irish Republican Army) destroyed his corner shop in a bombing. The song’s lyrics are meant to describe his grandad’s bitter feelings after seeing his life’s work blown up: “I built all that you can see. I built on solid rock for those who depended on me. You ever tried to make the best out of all that you found? You ever stood and watch it all falling straight to the ground?” To drive home his message, Mathers serves up a distinctly darker tone than on “Everything Seductive”, with an ominous grinding guitar riff layered over a hard-driving rhythm of throbbing bass and pounding drumbeats. His guitar work is fantastic, highlighted by a one-two punch of a gorgeous chiming solo in the bridge, followed by a magnificent wailing guitar solo that leaves me covered in chills before the song quickly fades out. Befitting the subject matter, his vocals are more intense as well, fervently conveying the anger and bitterness expressed in the lyrics.

Though I really like both tracks, “Straight To The Ground” struck me at first listen, and it’s my favorite of the two. 

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Find their music on  Bandcamp / Spotify / Apple Music/ Soundcloud