SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: TANCRED – NIGHTSTAND

Tancred
Nightstand
Polyvinyl Records

With Tancred’s 2016 Out of the Garden, primary songwriter Jess Abbott gave us an outright honest album about her personal experiences with femininity. Expressing those experiences brought out a harsher sound than we’d heard from Abbott before, reflecting both her maturity as a musician and the power of her feelings.

On Nightstand, we continue to see Abbott grow and try new things while bringing back more melodically driven songs. It’s clear from the opening track, cleverly titled “Song One”, that this album’s subject matter revolves around relationships. This gives every song a personal touch that makes them unique.

One of the many highlights of the album comes almost halfway through with the song “Clippings” where Abbott sings “I’m a loser sometimes, I will lose my mind sometimes.” Deeply revealing lyrics like this, sung with beautiful and soothing harmonies, are a combination that works wonderfully on this track and throughout the album.

Overall, it seems Abbott has become more comfortable as a musician, and this has resulted in one of the most pleasant and memorable pop-rock albums of the year. Fans will surely have plenty to get excited about on Nightstand.

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