7/10

Night Moves don’t offer answers on 'Double Life', they hold up the mirror, smudges and all, and let us stare until something shifts.

The Minneapolis band’s latest LP walks the tightrope between dreamy detachment and lived-in ache, a balancing act only sharpened by frontman John Pelant’s behind-the-scenes reckoning with adulthood, artistic burnout, and the messes we make while trying to stay human. What emerges is a record that searches for stillness in the noise, as well as humour in the haze.

There’s a deceptive ease to how 'Double Life' moves, from the woozy, soul-inflected shimmer of 'Hold On To Tonight' to the groove-laced reassurance of 'Ring My Bell'. These songs are warm to the touch, but you can still feel the cold just underneath. It’s a record that wears its weariness well.

If past Night Moves records swam in a kind of cosmic Americana haze, 'Double Life' gets closer to the ground. 'This Time Tomorrow' distills the absurd loop of modern life with a wink and a wound, folding Tom Petty-esque melodies into existential sighs.

There’s no sheen of perfection here. The record itself was born from false starts and wrong fits, from shouting neighbours and piss-filled hallways. But instead of collapsing under that weight, Night Moves turned their practice space into a chapel of sound, building a record that plays like a greatest hits of vulnerability.

'Double Life' doesn’t rush to transcend pain or confusion, it sits with them. And in doing so, it crafts a kind of shared language for anyone who’s ever had to laugh through dread, smile through disappointment, or find the rhythm again when everything feels off-beat.