Summer 08 (2016), British indietronica quartet Metronomy's fifth studio album, revisits the terrain they carved out in sophomore effort Night Out (2008) - clubbing, partying, one night stands, brief friendships and holiday romances:
"I just wanted to make an uptempo record. I wanted to try and do another record that captures that fading memory of being a bit younger and going to clubs, but with the confidence I didn’t have then.”
Joseph Mount, NME
"Night Owl", the second single from the album, is a brillant encapsulation of Mount's attempt to revisit the carefree hedonism and recklessness of young adulthood - with the distance and irony afforded by greater maturity. As Stereogum's Collin Robinson notes, the track involves some incongruity between its highly danceable funk pop groove and Mount's sardonic lyricism: "A groovy bass line, a classic dance drum pattern, and a bevy of spacey synths and sweeps lift Joe Mount’s jaded hook about the futility of the late-night hookup game. The incongruity of his apathy and the irresistible grooves make it difficult to choose between just dancing or dwelling in your feelings, but you’ll definitely be doing something".
I'm particularly enthralled by the shift in Mount's timbre during the bridge (where he references Lady Gaga's 2008 hit "Paparazzi"), while the chorus, with its confident embrace of possibility, serves as a foil to the romantic pessimism expressed in the song's verses:
'So let's imagine right nowI'm just another night owlAnd if you're going out tonight, girlThe city is my lighthouseSo let's imagine right nowI'm just another night owlAnd if you're going out tonight, girlThe city is my lighthouse'
Lyrics: Genius
The accompanying surrealist music video leaves clubbing territory far behind, however. Director Quentin Dupieux, aka producer and filmmaker Mr Oizo, seems to have taken a cue from the lines 'And what you said that day, I'll take it to the grave/ But once I'm in the grave, you won't care anyway', opting to stage existential dread in Palm Desert, California. Mount gets murdered in various ways, but his body morphs into a dummy at the point of death. A human brain crawls around, while the Grim Reaper is seen cruising in a car and hanging around on a motorbike.
