When Allo Darlin’ announced in 2023 they were going to play their first gigs in seven years, having bid what we thought was an emotional farewell at London’s Scala back in 2016, tickets sold out in minutes. The appetite to once again hear their specific brand of folk-infused indie pop clearly went deep, and a reunion that came about from lockdown has led to Bright Nights, their first record since 2014’s We Come From The Same Place.
There was always something comforting about Allo Darlin’s records – like a good friend coming round for a catch-up, and from the opening bars of ‘Leaves In The Spring’ all the familiar ingredients are back in place – the breezy tunes, smart lyrics and Elizabeth Morris’s distinctive vocals sound like that same old friend back on the sofa with a cup of tea in hand.
Little has fundamentally changed, but perhaps some of that old effervescence has been toned down in favour of a more contemplative sound, in keeping with a set of songs about love, birth and death.
The tinge of country which has long been apparent in their sound is turned up, not least on ‘My Love Will Bring You Home’, a song Morris has written to her daughters reflecting on her own roots in Queensland, Australia.
Bassist Bill Botting, who released his own solo record in 2017, makes his first written contribution to an Allo Darlin album with ‘You Don’t Think of Me At All’, an AM-radio friendly tune that offers a different side to the band while not sounding out of place.
Bright Nights is the sound of a band a little older, a little more worldly-wise, but still full of the love for life and friendship that made them such staunch favourites in the first place.