SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: NYTE SKYE – VANISHING

Nyte Skye
Vanishing
Sonic Ritual

Northern California’s newest alt-rock band Nyte Skye has released its debut album, Vanishing. Consisting of just Nyles Lannon working closely with his then twelve-year-old son Skye, and the result is an auspicious debut album of shimmery shoegaze rock.

Opener and early single “Dream State” sets the tone sonically for the rest of the album with its spacey vocals, droning synths, and clever guitarwork. “Guided By A Hand” is rhythmic and galloping while “Doing Time” is more ghostly, Nyles Lannon’s voice always half in fog, the drums tumbling along, the synths shining, the guitar plucking along underneath. On the front half of the album, “Take Me Up Again” stands out and hints at more expansive musical possibilities, the pumping drums of Skye Lannon working as the foundation to the layers of guitar and synth piled on top, rising and falling, and for stretches—aside from the vocals—they are reminiscent of certain parts of certain The War on Drugs songs.

This is also the point where the album seems to break out a bit and become more confident, the last several tracks pushing at the edges of whatever limits the first few tracks established. “Moon Rabbit” is the bridge, a two-minute dystopian electronic instrumental transition track that leads into “Take Your Love” with its melancholic synth and glistening guitar, the band achieving a vibe over the remaining tracks that places their sound somewhere near certain parts of certain The Cure songs, if The Cure were as groovy a band like Real Estate.

The back half of the album maintains the strengths of the first half and suggests the band’s potential to develop its sound even further beyond the confines of “shoegaze”. A good example late is “Two Wolves In The Heart,” which comes out thumping, paced-up from the previous tracks, and provides variation and difference at just the right moment to keep the album fresh and the band’s sound surprising all the way to the end. Overall, this is a polished debut effort.

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