Exclusive Interview: Night Thieves talk “Polarity”!

Last month saw the turn of London Alternative Metal outfit Night Thieves with a shinny new EP titled “Polarity” that has the mucky paw prints of producer Romesh Dodengoda (BMTH, Funeral For A Friend, Nova Twins) on it as well as some powerful arena sized sing-a-long choruses in anthemic style. Their third in six years together, this one has flourishes of Progressive Metalcore courtesy of some influences you might not expect, so having reviewed the record, we dusted ourselves down and spoke to the band about exactly what happened…

It’s been three years since you released 2021 EP “Spiral“; what did you want to do differently this time around with “Polarity“? “Spiral was written mainly in lockdown, so a lot of it came together remotely and during the recording sessions. This time we wanted to take more time, getting together in writing studios and fine tuning everything. The songs were pretty much complete by the time we began recording. The main aim was to achieve a bigger, heavier sound and this time we also focussed more on integrating the visuals and music, making it all more cohesive.”

How did you manage to persuade Tom Connolly from Dream State to join you in the studio to record “Polarity“? What has it been like teaching new drummer Ryan Delglyn the songs? “It was actually Romesh who suggested Tom to play drums when we said we were looking for someone to play on the EP. We were so excited when he agreed and he is also the nicest guy, so encouraging and a great person to have in the studio. It was awesome to watch him work, with his skill and professionalism, and he went in hard with those beats! Ryan came into the band after recording the Polarity and we are so glad to have him in the band! His excitement for music is infectious and his playing is immense, breathing new life into the band. We honestly didn’t have to teach him anything, he has had the songs down from the start and blew us away in his audition.”

We always say that even in the digital age, the first bite is with the eye and it has to be said that the artwork which adorns “Polarity” is incredible! How did you go about choosing it and what do you feel it says about the project? “Thank you, we absolutely love the artwork, which was done by o2bri. We were first made aware of her work from the Recovery EP cover she did for Dreamstate and after checking the rest of her portfolio we knew she was the right person for what we had in mind. During the recordings we discussed the overall themes of the lyrics and music EP, of divided worlds and opposing versions of events. From this we drafted some rough sketches, with the concept of having opposing colours and imagery to represent these themes. One of the main requirements of the artwork was that it could be split into two sections, showing the opposing worlds, represented by the two lead singles, ‘Collide’ and ‘Through the Looking Glass’. o2bri got what we were trying to do immediately and we are so happy with how it turned out.”

If we’re the product of our genes and our influences, who are your influences and what are in your jeans? “We have a huge range of influences, but we do all have some common bands we love! Some of the bands that really inspired us for the latest EP were Bring Me the Horizon, Biffy Clyro, Spiritbox, Architects and Jinjer, as we we really want to bring in the heavy riffs but with huge catchy choruses! Ryan has brought his love of heavier music such as Periphery, Carcer City and August Burns Red and it’s going to be awesome to see how we bring in these influences to our live shows and next recordings! There are also some amazing bands in the UK scene such as Lake Malice, Kite Thief, Mallavora and Arimea and it’s awesome to see these bands progressing up and hearing the exciting music they are making. In our jeans you’ll find our phones, wallets, spare picks, and some Haribo”

What are your aspirations for the project? Touring Europe? Playing a major festival? Gain an endorsement? Appear on the cover of Kerrang! Magazine? “There are some ultimate dream goals such as playing Download and headlining Wembley. The front cover of Kerrang or Metal Hammer would be amazing too! Hopefully Polarity will bring us to the attention of more fans and lead to bigger gigs, supporting some of our influences and heroes or playing some awesome festivals. An endorsement or two wouldn’t go a miss either….”

What’s next for Night Thieves? “Getting out and playing live! It’s going to be awesome to play the new material live and they really enhance our live shows. We also have some exciting gig announcements coming soon, so watch out for them! On top of that we are already writing for the next release and hope to be back in the studio this year. It’s a really exciting time in the Night Thieves camp and we are really looking forward to seeing what 2024 holds.”

“Polarity” by Night Thieves was released on 19th January 2024 and is available everywhere you’d expect it to be…