For Skye-founded techno explorers Niteworks, the lockdown period was an unexpected springboard into 2022.
“At the end of last year it was uncertain how things were going to go,” says Allan MacDonald, guitarist and bagpiper with the quartet.
Releasing their third album
“We had a big show planned at Celtic Connections in January with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and our plan was to release (the third album) A’Ghrian to coincide with that and launch the rest of the year from there.”
Yet against a backdrop of festivals rolling their cancelled line-ups from previous years into summer 2022, meaning bands with new material were unsure whether there would be space for them, the big Friday night Celtic Connections show was postponed until a midweek night in June.
“We wanted to make it as big a year as we possibly could,” says MacDonald. “We just said yes to everything that came in, not thinking about the implications of how busy that would make us.”
This is why, almost by accident, 2022 has been the year of Niteworks.
A promising year
A’Ghrian was shortlisted for a Scottish Album of the Year Award, their latest UK tour has sold out most venues, and their celebratory set – an electronic selection of club-ready anthems and more atmospheric journeys, given a Celtic edge by MacDonald’s powerful bagpipe playing and some Scots Gaelic lyricism – was perfect for the closing party of Edinburgh International Festival at Leith Theatre.
The beginnings of A’Ghrian lay in a drone-shot video of Edinburgh which the band were commissioned to soundtrack for Edinburgh’s Hogmanay’s online lockdown strand.
“We decided to take a different approach for it,” says MacDonald. “If people were going to be watching it on YouTube, we couldn’t just churn out club bangers, it needed to be sonically broader.
“That video was the catalyst, and we expanded on it with A’Ghrian. I keep hearing the word ‘cinematic’, and I guess that works.
“We added more orchestral parts and tried to make the sound bigger. It was a departure from our first album especially, which was clubbier and produced in our bedrooms.”
Not knowing how things would end
It was almost entirely recorded during lockdown, which feeds into its theme.
“The album follows the progression of going through a night out or a party, or at that time going into lockdown, and not knowing where things would end,” says MacDonald.
“Then the last tracks are brighter and happier, bookended with a sample of birds singing as the sun is rising. The last track is A’Ghrian, ‘The Sun’, which hopefully signifies a brighter future.”
More than any of their other albums, this one also celebrates Niteworks’ Scots Gaelic roots.
“With the other albums, we were trying to find our feet,” says MacDonald. “Over that time we’ve felt it’s become cooler to be proud of where we’re from and the kind of music we’re writing, so we made a conscious choice to double down on the Gaelic elements.
“The fact we got to the SAY shortlist is hopefully testament to the fact other people agree.”
From the uncertainty at the start of the year, 2022 has been Niteworks’ busiest and most successful yet. This tour is a chance to celebrate with them.
Niteworks play Perth Theatre on Saturday December 10. www.niteworksband.com
