Having played with the likes of Kevin Morby, The Babies and Waxahatchee, as well as in LA post-punk outfit Flat Worms, California‘s Justin Sullivan cut his musical teeth primarily as a drummer, and despite writing lyrics since high school, never picked up any other instruments to take the songs any further. But after losing a close friend and becoming disillusioned with the touring life, he began recording under the moniker Night Shop as way to rediscover the positive, healing power of music. “It was the thing I couldn’t wait to do when I got home from work,” he says. “It allowed me to reconnect with the joy of just creating.”
The sentiment bleeds into every facet of the Night Shop sound. Writing on single ‘Hello Take Me Anywhere‘ last year, we described the project as possessing “an infectious tone, a kind of wry, lopsided spirit that’s equal parts playful and heartfelt,” one capable of pushing beyond cynicism to achieve something almost celebratory. Finding joy on dark city streets, in the act of making music with friends. “But me, I got a dream,” went one line. “I’m gonna go real far / Gonna be the singer in a dimly lit bar.”
This winter sees Night Shop return with Forever Night, a brand new album which continues this theme. Released on Dangerbird Records, the album sees Meg Duffy (Hand Habits), Jess Williamson, Anna St. Louis and Jarvis Taveniere (Woods/Purple Mountains) all join Sullivan in what amounts to a triumphant meditation on nocturnal life. The closeness of the group is clearly apparent, with the songs having an air of one-take spontaneity only possible with trust and intuition.
In preparation for the record, Night Shop has unveiled the title track by way of introduction. With its infectious, self-perpetuating rhythm, the song acts as a kind of thesis for the album. A statement held aloft to ward off the darker corners encountered along the way. “‘Forever Night’ is a song about feeling grateful and inspired by the pace and lessons of the city and the pace and lessons of getting to experience a life spent playing music,” Sullivan explains. “It is a statement of purpose of sorts for this project.”
I want to go where the music is loud.
That’s where I belong.
I want to lose myself in a crowd.
And inside a song.I don’t want to learn to stop trying.
I don’t want to stop trying to learn.
Oh, let me burn
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Check out the video directed by Jeff Davenport and Cooper Kenward below:
Forever Night is out on the 1st December, and you can pre-order it from the Night Shop Bandcamp page.
