Horrors - Night Life
by Zena Grieg
published: 17 / 4 / 2025

Label:
Fiction Records
Format: CD
intro
Bleak ninth album from English rock band The Horrors which proves to be an intense, immersive experience
Attracting widespread attention in 2006 with their debut single ‘Sheena Is A Parasite’, English rock band The Horrors were a gothic sensation in sound and appearance. Now, in a new incarnation, with the recent addition of keyboard player Amelia Kidd (The Ninth Place), the band have released their sixth studio album, following up on their 2017 ‘V’ album. ‘Night Life’, described by the band as a “3a.m. insomnia walk through the city, retracing our steps and putting the past to bed”, is a moody melange of short and longer songs, a bleak end-of the-world ambience pervading them all. Themes include grief, disconnection, loneliness and impermanence, set against a dystopian landscape. Songs to listen out for in this nine-track collection include: the slow-building opener ‘Ariel’ with its ominous introductory lyrics: “In this world of silent winterscapes/All dreams hang unseen in the air/And every hollow cross we carry through our lives/Drags on our backs beneath the sun”; industrial goth-rock ‘Silent Sister’; lead single, the dramatic techno-rock ‘The Silence That Remains’, with its circling interplay between pain, intimacy and disconnection; ‘Trial By Fire’ with its explosive refrain and overpowering synths; ‘Lotus Eater’ with its haunting, hypnotic lines: ”If the world should end today/I’ve spent too much time/Worrying about yesterday”; the catchy ‘More Than Life’; stripped-back ballad ‘When The Rhythm Breaks’; and the epic closer, the upbeat anthemic ‘LA Runaway’. Dark, desolate with unexpected moments, ‘Night Life’ is an intense, immersive experience, coming out ahead of a UK-wide tour in November.
Track Listing:-
1 Ariel2 Silent Sister
3 The Silence That Remains
4 Trial By Fire
5 The Feeling Is Gone
6 Lotus Eater
7 More Than Life
8 When The Rhythm Breaks
9 LA Runaway
Band Links:-
https://www.thehorrors.co.uk/https://www.facebook.com/horrorsofficial
https://x.com/horrorsofficial
https://www.instagram.com/thehorrors/
Play in YouTube:-
Have a Listen:-
live reviews |
Horrors |
![]() |
Darren Aston photographs controversial alternative act the Horrors at a gig which ended in violence at the Kazimier in Liverpool |
soundcloud
reviews |
Whole New Way (2009) |
![]() |
Latest vinyl only single from Southend garage rockers the Horrors, which combines a post-punk and pop sound |
Shadazz (2008) |
Strange House (2007) |
Gloves (2007) |
most viewed articles
current edition
Carl Ewens - David Bowie 1964 to 1982 On Track: Every Album, Every SongJohn McKay - Interview
Editorial - July 2025
Billie Eilish - O2 Arena, London, 10/7/2025
Hothouse Flowers - Photoscapes
Bathers - Photoscapes 2
Bathers - Photoscapes 1
Visor Fest - Valencia, Spain, 26/9/2025...27/9/2025
Cleo Laine - 1927-2025
Simian Life - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Sick Man of Europe - The Sick Man of EuropeAmy Macdonald - Is This What You've Been Waiting For?
Phew, Erika Kobayashi,, Dieter Moebius - Radium Girls
Alice Cooper - The Revenge of Alice Cooper
Blueboy - 2
Lucy Spraggan - Other Sides of the Moon
Cynthia Erivo - I Forgive You
Davey Woodward - Mumbo in the Jumbo
Philip Jeays - Victoria
Bush - I Beat Loneliness
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart