Spector - Here Come The Early Nights

After supply chain issues delayed 2022's aptly titled 'Now or Whenever', new album 'Here Come the Early Nights' is another fitting title for Spector's latest record; it's a more reflective affair than the onslaught of bangers we've become accustomed to from the quartet, ruminating on the tension between the rock'n'roll lifestyle and the more adult concerns of fatherhood, property and balding.

Musically, there's a more considered production featuring a lot of (previously unthinkable) acoustic guitar and laid-back drum beats, which give Fred Macpherson's trademark one-liners more room to breathe ("Who needs a surveillance state when he's got your location tracked," he smirks on the brilliant 'Driving Home for Halloween').

Given their enviable arsenal of songs that can tear the roof off a festival tent, the change of pace is welcome, and gives us the melancholy of 'Never Have Before' with its Graham Coxon-esque guitar lines luxuriating in the space they're afforded. 'Pressure' lilts atop a walking bassline, while the acoustic strums of 'Another Life' meet the band's signature bangers halfway.

Having wrestled their destiny back into their own hands over the past 5 years, Spector have earned the right to change things up a little.