Nightblooms – “Matters of Time” (feat. Chessa Rich)

Petal Motel is excited to premiere the song “Matters of Time” from Nightblooms, the nom de plume of artist Sam Logan. The Greenboro, NC dweller is releasing his debut album, The Slow Decline, in a series of three installments, the first being the EP Night Blooms in the Apocalypse, out 9/1/23 via Sleepy Cat Records. Instrumentally, the first single is perfected indie pop bliss, lyrically, it plumbs familiar depths. I’m quite taken with the first track and looking forward to hearing more from this baby band – if this is the apocalypse, it’s going to be a beautiful way out. Find Nightblooms on Bandcamp.

Vocals, guitars, bass, synthesizers – Sam Logan
Drums, percussion, synthesizer – Ellis Anderson
Lap steel, synthesizers – Saman Khoujinian
Lead and backing vocals – Chessa Rich

What began as a panic attack in the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic gave way to a regenerative creative outlet for Logan. “It was a visceral moment, underscored by night sweats, labored breathing, and full-body aches,” Logan recalls. The experience left a permanent mark, and by the next day, the chords and lyrics that eventually evolved into “Matters of Time” began to take shape. Despite breezy guitars and synths, the lyrics are suffocating: ”Awake in the night and the room is on fire/ I just held closer to you/ Catching my breath as I cling to my bed.”

“I do love the juxtaposition of mellow instrumentation supporting a song about a panic attack — a tablespoon of honey to go with the vinegar,” Logan confesses. Bandmate Chessa Rich’s vocals exemplify this duality, providing an ethereal reminder to stay calm during these dark moments, a deep breath between verses that hyperventilate. Producer Saman Khoujinian sends the track into cosmic country territory with indelible slide guitar work, creating another sonic earworm.

Recording at various studios around the Triangle (including Sylvan Esso home base Betty’s in Chapel Hill and Small Pond Farm in rural Chatham County), Khoujinian and Logan worked in short stretches over the better part of two years to craft more than a dozen tracks together. Aided by friends and collaborators like Ellis Anderson (No One Mind, The Toddlers), Chessa Rich, Reed Benjamin (CALAPSE, Raund Haus), Charity Lane, and Libby Rodenbough (Mipso), the songs take Nightblooms’ original palette of acoustic guitar, bass, and drums, and expand its scope to include vintage synthesizers, lap steel guitars, pianos, drum machines, and string arrangements.

Across Night Blooms in the Apocalypse, Logan explores our shared anxieties: The deterioration of the planet and those who profit from it, the comfort and corruption of religion, and our global slide into chaos. On “Anthropocene,” a finger-picked guitar tumbles downhill as Logan considers the irreversible damage caused by the exploitation of the environment. “We’re running out of space/ We’re running out of time,” he concludes. “This is an attempt to tackle heavy themes and ideas in a sonically lightweight framework,” Logan explains. “These are fun songs about the end of the world.” 

Night Blooms in the Apocalypse is a clear introduction to what Logan hopes to accomplish with Nightblooms and sets the foundation for a series of two additional EPs built respectively around the themes of love and the natural world. The “Apocalypse Trilogy” will be collected on Nightblooms’ debut LP which is expected in the summer of 2024 on Sleepy Cat Records.

Photo credit: Anna Maynard