Night Lovell is a rapper and producer from Ottawa, Canada. Like many other fans, I first heard his music back in 2014 when he released the single “Dark Light”. That particular track is Lovell’s most famous song and undoubtedly a classic; it doesn’t seem to age. The haunting vocal sample is simply brilliant, thanks to the slowed-down pitch, it sounds nothing like the original new age song (“Moola Meditation” by Sudha and Maneesh de Moor) and for me, it’s still Lovell’s best produced track almost 6 years later.

The video for “Dark Light” was famously shot on an iPhone, in fact Lovell’s technique of recording music at night and in a closet is a thing of legend. Even before I discovered that Night records at night (hence his name) I always thought his music had the ability to evoke the twilight hours. With the echoing melodies, slow-tempo beats, and his monotone delivery, Lovell’s best songs possess a sense of darkness, both in terms of lyrical content and in terms of soundscape. Playing Night Lovell’s music after hours is preferable but even during the day, you can close your eyes and picture pitch-black, gloomy, and even misty scenes.

I’ll be the first to admit that Night Lovell hasn’t yet created a flawless album; I dislike his “Barbie Doll”-type tracks and I’d prefer there to be less autotuned singing by featured artists. But having said that, after releasing three albums (Concept Vague, Red Teenage Melody, and Goodnight Lovell) Night is definitely one of the foremost “dark rap” performers. With his sound being somewhere between cloud rap and dark wave, Night Lovell along with the likes of Bones and $uicideboy$, is one of the new generation of rappers who for the most part, doesn’t make radio-friendly trash. Check out this Spotify playlist of his best tracks…

Love Night.

Playlist also available on Deezer (click the logo below)