“The Chelsea, At Night” is the latest song by King In Yellow, a Hudson River valley post-punkers. It’s their third single and an adequate follow-up to “Lightning Returning” and “Spirit Shift,” two exceptional singles released in 2023. For those who missed my writings about them, King In Yellow are not just another ordinary post-punk band. They expanded their sound by incorporating classic punk rock, noise rock, art punk, garage rock, and alternative rock elements, making their music fresh and unique to the max. Still, they left enough room for some fundamentals of the post-punk genre, so their music often evokes some eighties and nineties vibes. “The Chelsea, At Night” is probably their best work, thanks to their ability to break all the rules and shapeshift boundaries of many different but complementary music categories.
These folks are not joking around with their music, and this track is more than a rock-solid proof of my statement. They strike a tremendous balance between melody and aggression right from the start. You’ll immediately notice how the continuous dueling of calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal melodies, harmonies, themes, and leads on one side perfectly matches heavy, powerful, noisy chord progressions and riffs on the other. A touch of reverb effect makes things even more interesting, giving that recognizable spacey vibes. These are the moments where their interest in post-punk, art-punk, noise, and garage rock shines the most. In the meantime, the bass guitar offers more heaviness, clarity, and depth with cleverly constructed low-end notes. The warm, precise, massive basslines also act as a binding element between guitars and drums. Of course, this song wouldn’t sound this good without energetic, well-accentuated beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics. The accentuations delivered by continuous splashing over cymbals make things even more noisy, but they do not overwhelm the remainder of the instrumentations. The exceptional vocal performance, back vocals, and singalongs shine in the mix, guiding the listener throughout each segment and emphasizing all the instrumentations. It’s also good to mention that the delicate balance between clean singing and shouting works to the advantage of the song.
King In Yellow nailed it once again. Their improved version of post-punk sounds tremendous. They glide over modern and retro sonic maneuvers with such ease, delivering a premium listening experience to anyone even remotely into this genre. You should put “The Chelsea, At Night” because King In Yellow showcases how post-punk should sound nowadays. The single is available on all streaming platforms. Don’t miss it!
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