Belgium and Germany-based duo The Day feature on our pages for the first time with their soul-searching second album, The Kids Are Alright.
By Graeme Smith
Based across Antwerp, Belgium and Hamburg, Germany, The Day are made up of Laura Loeters and Gregor Sonnenberg. They released their first album Midnight Parade in 2019 but have only just hit our radar through their second full-length release.
It’s an album very much informed by coronavirus lockdown with Laura seeking escapism confined to her new home in Antwerp and ultimately finding it an empty pursuit. Driven by angst, she starting questioning every aspect of her life. Together with Gregor, the pair found their salvation through music, specifically a string of covers of which Tenderfoot features on the album.
The Kids Are Alright sees them try a clearer yet darker sound than their debut and we hear it straight away with their airy yet melancholic album opener 98. Emotional vocals float over an arrangement built from echoing guitar and ponderous percussion. It gradually builds to a gripping climax.
Elsewhere we get cantering indie pop in the form of Nemesis and Sidelines, vibrant and urgent pop-rock with early highlight Two Moons and Empty, and some dreamy and cinematic sentiments with Parasite and June. Hide simmers with the raw and jangly melancholia you might hear from the likes of beabadoobee or Phoebe Bridgers while Four gives us some unexpected ambience. Before closes the album with a lingering and introspective number.
With their new album, I feel like The Day have really nailed down their sound, giving us the best of pop and indie rock with a varied collection that’s overflowing with emotion. There’s plenty in it to make you want to move as well as feel, and the production quality is second to none. The Kids Are Alright is a special album.
The Kids Are Alright is out now and you can check it out below.