The Xcerts – Late One Night EP

Aberdeen’s pop-rock trio continue to dominate the limelight with a small selection of charmingly stripped-back, soft reinventions of some of Hold on to Your Heart's best bits

Album Review by Dylan Tuck | 02 Oct 2018
Album title: Late One Night EP
Artist: The Xcerts
Label: Raygun Records
Release date: 5 Oct

The Xcerts have been slowly becoming one of the leading rock bands in Scotland’s modern music scene – and not without warrant either. The band’s fourth record, Hold on to Your Heart, released at the start of the year, was their most successful effort to date and showcased a range of delightful nuances amid their trademark recipe for writing hook-coated indie-rock belters.

In a justified effort to hold on to the acclaims of that record, the Aberdonian trio return with their latest EP Late One Night, a five-track collection of reworked, reimagined and redeveloped versions of some of the finest moments from that album; all stripped-down, bittersweet and generally quite beautiful.

Late One Night’s more light-bite, transient and upbeat moments like opener Daydream and the truly lovely rendition of arena-worthy song Feels Like Falling in Love are a pleasant mix of lyrical positivity, touched with a gentle dab of warmth that offers a refreshing take on the originals’ jumpy, sing-your-heart-out vibe.

Elsewhere, tracks like Cry and The Dark were already quite relaxed, chilled songs prior to any acoustic prodding. Yet, these versions serve almost like a Live Lounge effort – most likely thanks to the fact the entirety of this EP was recorded in the space of one night, as frontman Murray Macleod recently admitted.

Late One Night is a tasteful selection of some of the band’s more recent best bits. While it’s nothing spectacularly fresh in the sense of new music, this miniature collection of deliciously reworked songs are a gentle nod towards The Xcerts perhaps underappreciated softer side.

Listen to: Daydream, Feels Like Falling in Love, The Dark

https://www.thexcertsband.com/