Night Tapes

Most artists say their music is shaped by their environment—Night Tapes make that idea tangible. The London-based trio of Iiris Vesik, Max Doohan, and Sam Richards have built a world where sound and place are inseparable, culminating in their debut album portals//polarities (2026): a transportive, genre-defying record that captures moments across continents and turns them into vivid sonic landscapes. Across the album, field recordings from a bubbling Estonian swamp, Mexican mountainsides, and city streets are woven into shimmering compositions that blur the boundaries between dream pop, shoegaze, trip-hop, and ambient music. It’s a record that feels both intimate and expansive—rooted in lived experience yet constantly reaching outward. Their creative process sits somewhere between a band and electronic producers: guitars, bass, and vocals coexist with laptops, sampling, and tape experimentation. Much of portals//polarities was recorded on the road—in hotel rooms, Airbnbs, and makeshift setups between tour dates—embracing limitations as a creative catalyst. Their use of дикtafoons and tape fragments introduces unpredictability and human imperfection, allowing accidental moments and forgotten recordings to resurface in unexpected ways. Musically, the album moves fluidly between styles: the pulse of synth-pop, the haze of shoegaze, the rhythm of trip-hop, and the openness of ambient music—often within a single track. Structures dissolve and reform, creating a listening experience that feels alive and constantly shifting. At its core, portals//polarities is an exploration of duality, freedom, and self-understanding. Vesik’s introspective approach places emotion within sound rather than explicit lyrics, giving the music a deeply personal yet universal resonance. The result is a debut that is both political and intimate, abstract yet emotionally direct. By 2026, the trio have toured internationally, sold out headline shows across the UK, EU, and US, and established themselves as a truly global act. With portals//polarities, Night Tapes deliver a debut album that feels borderless and deeply human—capturing fleeting moments, unexpected connections, and the quiet magic of sound shaped by place. "They make transportive music. The type of dream pop that makes gravity lose its grip. They lighten loads and soften the edges, making us feel like we are levitating... just gloriously buoyant. Honestly, if I'm having a heavy day bearing a load they take the weight off my shoulders. It's pure magic what they do!" Sian Eleri, BBC Radio 1 (2025)