Nightly Gatherings releases first single of the year, Still Friends

by Gabe Finch January 31, 2023

January 31, 2023

Nightly Gatherings releases first single of the year, Still Friends

Following his 2022 EP ‘Accepted’, Connor Johnson’s solo endeavor Nightly Gatherings have returned on January 27 with the first single of 2023, ‘Still Friends’. The singer, songwriter, and producer continues his experimental approach in the newest single ‘Still Friends’. He took a genre-fluid approach to mix the elements of EDM, house, bubblegum pop and trip-hop to create a track that is a total earworm.

Lyrically, the song is simple and straightforward. It’s about two friends that feel like their friendship is about to end but they don’t really want to, but they’re also unsure if they should keep putting in the effort. It is a simple yet relatable story. The repetitive nature of the lyrics “So tell me are we still friends? Don’t wanna pretend. So tell me are we still friends? Don’t want it to end” gets the song stuck in your head for days. Pair it with a bright equally catchy melody over dancy syncopated beats, you’ve gotten yourself a song you’ll catch yourself humming without even knowing. It’s a stripped-down pop song in a lot of ways, but musically it doesn’t really stop there. From warped samples, thumping bass to catchy looped synths, it has all the EDM essentials to make it a dance floor hit.

Overall, the song is a best-of-both-worlds when it comes to catchy bubblegum pop and electronic music. Definitely an upbeat, feel-good track despite its lyrical theme.