Tag: Belfast

UNQUIET NIGHTS – Double Single Review: “Everything Seductive”/”Straight To The Ground”

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Reviews3 Comments

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. 

Connect with Unquiet Nights:  Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
Find their music on  Bandcamp / Spotify / Apple Music/ Soundcloud 

UNQUIET NIGHTS – Single Review: “Diamond and the Missing Son”

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Reviews16 Comments

Unquiet Nights is an outstanding rock band I’ve been following for nearly six years, ever since frontman Luke Mathers reached out to me about their superb single “Promise of You”, which I loved at first listen.  Originally started in 2006 as a solo project by Mathers, a talented singer-songwriter and guitarist from Belfast, Northern Ireland, with help by Rodger Firmin on drums, he began recording songs for what would become the first Unquiet Nights album 21st Century Redemption Songs. In 2010, Luke relocated 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 and compelling 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. Their best known and most successful song, it’s now garnered more than 486,000 streams on Spotify alone. Mathers eventually moved back to Belfast in 2016, where he continues to record and release music with Firmin and Piciucchi as Unquiet Nights.

I’ve written about them three times over the past six years, most recently two years ago this month when I reviewed their excellent single “In Spite of It All”. The song was released in conjunction with, and included on, their 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. Now they’re back with a great new single “Diamond and the Missing Son“, their first new music in two years. The lead single of their forthcoming album Seasons in Exile, to be released on January 19th, the song (and album) was produced by Mathers, and mixed and mastered by Neal Calderwood, who’s also mixed and mastered all previous Unquiet Nights releases.

The song’s a bona fide rock gem, with a strong Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers vibe, courtesy of Mathers’ vibrant soaring guitars. His masterful guitar work never ceases to amaze me, and he doesn’t disappoint here as he delivers spine-tingling riffs that smolder and wail throughout. Meanwhile, Firmin deftly sets the driving rhythm with his muscular drumbeats that propel, but never overpower, the song. And as always, Mather’s vocals are equal parts commanding and pleasing, with just a hint of a rasp to convey the right amount of passion. It’s a marvelous introduction to what promises to be another stellar album by Unquiet Nights.

The song lyrics tell a tale of two characters who find themselves entwined with each other, serving as a kind of first chapter to a much bigger story involving a character named ‘Diamond’, who I’m guessing is a woman, and a man referred to as ‘The Missing Son’. Mathers provides some background to the premise: “Sometimes I force myself to try and write songs that aren’t directly about myself, and to just approach the song like it would be a movie. The back story of these two characters isn’t fully expanded on in ‘Diamond And The Missing Son’ itself, because of the limitations of a three minute single, so I thought if we were going to release it that I would challenge myself to write the whole third album from the point of view of these two characters. This is what our new album ‘Seasons In Exile’ turned into, which was a useful experiment because I’ve ended up getting a lot of songs that definitely wouldn’t have existed without the continuity. The funny thing is that when someone thinks they’re writing fiction, they usually discover it’s the most honest they’ve ever written about themselves. This seems to have happened here.”

Tonight we roll the dice
If just to stop and pray for paradise to come through
Straight in to the dark
Straight into something looking for the spark that we knew

No thinking of tomorrow
We only got today

You are the only thing that keeps me hanging on
And on and on
There’s nothing else could ever come between us ’cause we are
The diamond and the missing son

Diamond, you should know
Nothing and no one makes me feel anything like you do
For all the things you show
There’s always something that leaves we wondering and blind and confused

No thinking of tomorrow
We only got today

You are the only thing that keeps me hanging on
And on and on
There’s nothing else could ever come between us ’cause we are
The diamond and the missing son

I generally prefer music videos that show the musicians or bands performing their song, so the video for ‘Diamond and the Missing Son” is right up my alley. Filmed in black and white, it shows Mathers and Firmin working their musical magic, while the in-house cat makes its rounds, seeming to express approval of the proceedings.


Connect with Unquiet Nights:  Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
Stream their music on Spotify / Apple Music/ Soundcloud 
Purchase on Bandcamp / Unquiet Nights Online Store

UNQUIET NIGHTS – Single Review: “In Spite of It All”

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Reviews14 Comments

Unquiet Nights is an outstanding rock band with a somewhat unusual career trajectory. Originally started in Belfast, Northern Ireland as a solo project by singer-songwriter and guitarist Luke Mathers in 2006, he began recording tracks with help by Rodger Firmin on drums for what would become the first Unquiet Nights album 21st Century Redemption Songs. In 2010, Luke relocated 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 and compelling 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. Their best known and most successful song, it’s now garnered more than 355,000 streams on Spotify. Luke moved back to Belfast in 2016, where he continues to record and release music with Rodger and Francesco as Unquiet Nights.

Rodger and Luke working their magic

I first learned about them in early 2018 when Luke reached out to me about their superb single “Promise of You”, which I reviewed. They quickly followed with “Young Believers”, then a year later they released another stellar single “Four Winds“, which I also reviewed. I enjoyed that song so much it ended up ranking #76 on my Top 100 Songs of 2019 list.

Now Unquiet Nights are back with a new single “In Spite of It All“, which they’ve released in conjunction with their third album First Ten (2012-2022). A sort of ‘greatest hits so far’, the album commemorates the ten year anniversary of their debut album 21st Century Redemption Songs, in recognition of their impressive body of work over the past decade. The album features ten songs they feel are an important part of their musical journey up to this point, including two songs from 21st Century Redemption Songs, three from Postcards in Real Time, the three standalone singles listed above, and the new one written especially for this collection, “In Spite of It All”. As depicted in the art work for the album, all ten songs are gems, written and produced by Luke, and flawlessly mixed and mastered by Neal Calderwood. 

Though not quite as hard-hitting as their last three singles, “In Spite of It All” is a beautiful rock song nonetheless, with a somewhat gentler, more melodic sound. As always, Luke’s guitars are gorgeous as he lays down an intertwining mix of urgent riffs and chiming notes over a hypnotic driving rhythm, courtesy of Francesco’s beautiful humming bassline and Rodger’s propulsive drumbeats. Francesco’s sparkling synths are the added jewel in the crown, beautifully complementing Luke’s swirling guitar to create an enchanting and exciting backdrop for his clear, plaintive vocals.

The lyrics seem to address the fact that the journey of life can be difficult and full of obstacles, and to make it, you shouldn’t follow the crowd, but instead forge your own path forward, learning from your mistakes and staying true to yourself: “You don’t have to jump just ’cause they tell you to jump. You don’t have to dance just ’cause they call you up. You don’t learn to walk before you learn to crawl. But you keep moving forward still in spite of it all.”

And here’s the full album, available for purchase on Bandcamp at a very reasonable price. I just bought mine!

Connect with Unquiet Nights:  Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
Stream their music on  Spotify / Apple Music/ Soundcloud 
Purchase on Bandcamp / Unquiet Nights Online Store