ESSENGER & NINA - 'Nightcall' | A Single Review

A Synthwave anthem for the ages, this track came streaming into public consciousness 10 years ago as a single track by Kavinsky. It was produced with Daft Punk's Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and mixed by electronic artist Sebastian. It wasn't until the track was used in the title sequence for the film Drive in 2011 directed by Nicolas Winding Refn that it seemed to have struck a chord with some and became the unofficial gateway for most on their journey into the 'Synthwave' scene.

The inherent problem with such a loved track as this is it seemed to have transcended the genre that birthed it and became almost a parody of itself in being misappropriated on TV advertisements, pop, rock and country. Call me old fashioned but I felt if anyone where to cover this classic again they'd need to peel away it's layers and give it a fresh coat of neon paint.

Enter Essenger & Nina.......

A clash or more collab of the Synth Titans, you'd certainly think they'd be somewhat comfortable covering a track of such magnitude being immersed in the genre themselves and you know what? It's really great.

The duo have somehow managed to pay homage to the track itself whilst stylistically making it their own which I'd wager is no mean feat.

Nina's almost breathless beautiful vocal paired with the punchy production chops of Essenger makes for a great experience and breathes life into a track which I thought had long since been exhausted. It treats it with such sensitivity you can almost tell they wanted to ensure that this track was the best that they could make it. Seems made by fans for fans.

I genuinely love what they have done with this and I feel you will too.

Out on FiXT NEON on the 24th November save the date in your diaries.

Here's a snippet of what to expect :

Score: 10.0/10.0