One person likes Radiohead – another enjoys Dead Kennedys. Oneohtrix Point Never piques the interest of someone while The Human League finds a comfortable spot in another person’s vinyl rotation. Complicated musical preference and infinitely variable influence have fueled musicians for generations, providing inspiration and fodder for all aesthetics and approaches. For They Travel at Night, the duo of Chuck Howard and Lou Scanlon, their combined intermingling aural affections define the boundless striations of their musical collaboration. Familiar, yet free of any overt genre burdens, their music is built from cross-angled rhythms and compounding creativities.
A blissful attention to detail drives Scanlon and Howard in their pursuit of specific musical insight, offering release and revelation through individual moments. They are interested in exposing what lies beneath the superficial shake and rattle of their songs, the things that make time retreat and allow for unexpected examination. Their forthcoming EP, Entropy, due out early next year, is the result of the band searching for and finding a collection of sounds that heighten and augment the surroundings of whatever experience you happen to be immersed in at any given point.
On their new single, “Go On”, they revel in a dense cacophony of synth-pop impulses, a wild fusion of electronic styles supported by gauzy pop perspectives. What began as a stripped-down instrumental experiment from Scanlon built upon a single guitar loop and a solo grew as Howard fleshed out the track’s environments. Inspired by themes of mortality and eternal cycles, the song was built layer by layer, each one further drawing out thoughts of consciousness and various existential states – or alternately, as the band offers, “maybe someone is just chronically late, and their friends are sick of it.”
Listen to “Go On” below.
They Travel at Night will release their new EP, Entropy, on February 2. Follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
