Some Nights is the mesmerizing debut album from Brock Geiger. It’s a gloriously widescreen take on pop music, packed full of undeniably catchy songs with uniquely modern production, and it perhaps begs the question, “what took so long?” But it’s not like he hasn’t been busy: over the last decade and a half, Geiger has cemented a sterling reputation as something of a musical “fixer” in Canadian indie music circles. If there’s something your project needs, odds are very good that Brock Geiger will be the person for the job; his work as a producer/engineer (Astral Swans, Amaara, Clea Anaïs), in-demand multi-instrumentalist sideman (Samantha Savage Smith, Michael Bernard Fitzgerald), film composer, and key member of various acclaimed bands is enough to fill a few resumes. But here, across a glistening ten-song collection of eclectic and ambitious pop songs, Some Nights reveals itself as a wondrous and wholly unfettered presentation of Geiger’s own musical outlook. The album combines his penchant for finely-wrought ear-worm melodies with his preternatural ability to sculpt sonically unique edifices for each one of these songs; as such, it is a perfectly distilled introduction to the mind of one of Canada’s most forward-thinking pop auteurs. Some Nights is as addictive as it is tricky to describe, and this, it turns out, can be linked to its multi-phased gestation period.
In pre-pandemic years, Geiger was spending a good deal of time on the road, touring with acts like Raleigh (his avant-prog-pop project with Clea Anaïs), acclaimed singer-songwriter Reuben & The Dark, and Samantha Savage Smith, so when the world ground to a halt in March of 2020, it didn’t take long before he turned his attention to a veritable mountain of demos, half-ideas, and other moments of inspiration found on old hard drives and tossed-off voice memos from years past. As Geiger started to pick through his findings, it became clear that with the solitary nature of this particular endeavour, he’d be free to let the tunes dictate exactly what each one needed, rather than the usual practice of stretching a song around the shape of a band, with specific people and instruments to consider. This realization opened up worlds of possibilities that are repeatedly glimpsed throughout Some Nights, and it also meant that, as Geiger hunkered down at his Studio B recording space in Calgary, production and recording would become inextricably linked with the process of forming these songs. And while the album is a solo affair through and through, Some Nights didn’t come into being without a few assists.
“Once the bones of these tunes were in place, I started sharing them with friends and my regular collaborators, opening the door to other perspectives and feedback,” Geiger says. One of these friends was Will Maclellan, bandmate in Raleigh and currently working as an engineer alongside famed producer Tony Berg at the legendary Sound City studios in Los Angeles. Maclellan, whose credits include the likes of Phoebe Bridgers, Taylor Swift, and The Killers, was positively sparked by what he heard, and suggested Geiger come down to L.A. to continue fleshing out the songs in somewhat loftier environs. From here, Geiger says, “the process evolved into a tight collaboration between the two of us.” With Geiger eager to explore the freedoms outside of a democratic band setting, Maclellan found himself similarly liberated. “Will had been primarily working as an engineer at this point, not necessarily always getting to flex his considerable production chops, so when we dove in together, it was obvious that the album would also be a flag in the sand for each of us as producers and creative voices.” This partnership proved to be hugely fruitful, and resulted in an album that truly shares space with very few peers in today’s musical climate.
After a short, swirling introduction, Some Nights announces itself boldly with lead single “Steps Taken”, a swaggering, rhythmically dense whirlwind of synths, layered vocals, and a filthy, distorted guitar hook that would make St. Vincent blush. The song is positively packed with detail, from its deceptively complicated yet dance-able groove, to the subtly shifting percussive textures of programmed and live drums. The latter element is worth noting: that drumming, somehow delightfully chunky and lithe at the same time, is provided by none other than studio legend Matt Chamberlain (Mac Miller, Fiona Apple, Wallflowers). The drummer happened to pop his head into the studio one day, liked what he heard, and was more than happy to lend his one-of-a-kind feel to a handful of tracks on the album. For a song that contains so much ear-perking information, it’s amazing that it barely cracks the 2-minute mark, and the listener will find their finger returning to that PLAY button in no time. Consider this a theme for the album.
Title track “Some Nights” keeps the energy high with a woozy and zoned alternate-reality version of a club anthem, as if Prince had gotten around to collaborating with LCD Soundsystem. Replete with hallucinatory guitar interjections, a melted smear of vocals, and another ridiculously groovy performance from Chamberlain, one can readily imagine the song’s protagonist peering slyly over a pair of lowered sunglasses. From this opening salvo, Some Nights moves into a more spacious realm with “Say Enough”, a gorgeously restrained piece decorated with Geiger’s own percussive trappings and a winding, hypnotic chorus, and is followed by “After Later”, which ekes out a tonal region somewhere between Grizzly Bear and Devendra Banhart. Featuring celebrated saxophonist Sam Gendel (known for his work with Vampire Weekend and a spate of captivating solo albums), “After Later” clearly displays the potential of a less traditionally-tethered approach to instrumentation and arrangement. Gentle percussion and mysterious synth textures float around the listener, and nods to jazz-inspired chording and melodic interventions betray Geiger’s interests outside the purely pop realm.
The rest of the songs on Some Nights continue down this kaleidoscopic path; towards the back half sits second single “Lemonade”, another tune whose groove and overall feel are undeniably sitting in a realm of their own, and clearly delivering on one of Geiger’s core intentions for Some Nights: “It was a goal of mine to have this record feel groove-centric, and rhythmically engaging,” he says, and it’s safe to say this goal was achieved across the board. Elsewhere, the beguiling, hypnotic near-instrumental “October Is Monochrome” wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Radiohead’s In Rainbows, and “Early August Rain”, with its slapbacked, reverb-soaked drum production, is a tender, literate ballad offset with an assertive, punchy beat and glowing vocal harmonies.
While Some Nights certainly began as a solo endeavour, it grew throughout its various phases of production, and now it’s being brought to life onstage with a band of Geiger’s fellow travellers, some of the busier musicians in western Canada, including Raleigh co-leader and solo artist Clea Anaïs, Jarrett Mayo on guitar (Astral Swans, Amy Nelson), multi-instrumentalist Nate Waters (Eye of Newt, Samantha Savage Smith), saxophone magician Kevin Sullivan (Astral Swans), and drummer Chris Dadge (Chad VanGaalen, Alvvays).
Some Nights will be available digitally and on limited edition 180g purple vinyl on March 18, 2025.
