After Dark is turning heads in the Australian music scene with their electrifying blend of pop and rock. Hailing from Adelaide, this dynamic group has crafted a sound that fuses heavy riffs, enchanting violin melodies, and soaring vocals, creating a unique and captivating musical experience. With their latest single, 'Party Lady', making waves as the lead track from their highly anticipated debut full-length album, After Dark is proving they’re here to stay.
The band is poised for an exciting year ahead. Today, we sit down with the band to dive into their creative process, the story behind 'Party Lady', and what fans can expect from their upcoming album. This is a paid collaboration with 'After Dark'
TRACK REVIEW
From the very first notes, Party Lady sets a powerful tone, blending elements that echo the intensity of The Cranberries and Evanescence, with Led Zeppelin’s rock edge and the vocal grandeur reminiscent of Whitney Houston. This track showcases After Dark’s talent for merging classic rock vibes with a modern, high-energy punch. The standout moments lie in the breakdowns and guitar solo—each tone is carefully sculpted, taking you through shifts in tempo and texture that keep you fully engaged. With half-time breakdowns and seamless tempo changes, Party Lady is an impressive blend of rock styles, delivering both grit and finesse in every beat.
Your latest single, Party Lady, is full of energy and catchy vibes. Can you share what inspired this track and what the creative process was like?
Thank you! Our bassist came to us with the intro bassline and said he wanted the lead vocal melody in between each riff. From there the track took on a life of its own and we wrote the whole song after two sessions. It felt natural to begin with a sombre tone and build to a catchy chorus so in turn it made sense lyrically to show the gradual journey of how the ‘Party Lady’ was formed.
We didn’t realise it would be the lead-single off the album until we began playing it at gigs and had such a positive response from our audiences.
Party Lady has such a unique sound. How did you approach the production to capture the song’s energy and make it stand out?
After writing the chorus riff, our drummer came up with the idea of having some crazy tempo changes with slowed down and sped up choruses towards the end as a way to keep the audience on their toes when we play live. This proved to be very difficult during the recording and post-production process especially considering it meant we couldn’t record using a click track but we have Hillside Recordings to thank for navigating that hurdle. Our producer, Matt, worked with us to ensure the track was super tight but also had just the right feel. We really couldn’t have done it without him.
The violin melodies in your songs add such a distinctive touch. How did you come to incorporate violin into your music, and what does it add to Party Lady?
Our lead vocalist started out as a violinist. She started playing at three years old and singing came a little later. These days her violin and singing have sort of become a package deal so violin is usually incorporated into most of our tracks. We wanted Party Lady to have an almost orchestral feel to go against some of the heavier lead guitar parts in hopes to symbolise the inner-mind battle that ‘Party Lady’ faces.
Since Party Lady is the lead single from your upcoming album, how does it set the tone for the full album? Are there other songs with a similar energy or theme?
Party Lady tells a chronological story, so it made sense to make it the lead single off the album as storytelling is a common theme throughout (both lyrically and instrumentally.) In terms of energy, you can certainly expect more meshing of sounds where orchestral style violin meets heavier pop/rock riffs.
You haven’t revealed too much about your debut album yet—can you give us a hint about the overall vibe or any recurring themes you’re exploring?
We sure can! A cheeky hint is that the title of the album is linked to our bands name which is also a running theme throughout.
Your bio describes a mix of pop, rock, and ballad styles. How do you balance these different elements across the album, and do you have a specific approach to combining them in songs like Party Lady?
When we were writing for the album, we tried not to box our sound or style too much. We wrote as much as we possibly could and usually based the music on how we were feeling in the moment/what was going on in our personal lives. After compiling the tracks together, we found the over-arching theme to be one of storytelling discussing the ups and downs in our lives as we navigate our early 20’s. However, similarly to ‘Party Lady,’ there is also a theatrical element throughout. We wanted it to feel big and over-exaggerated as though the listener was witnessing a full-production show in an arena.
How has the Adelaide music scene influenced After Dark's style and sound?
We have a very diverse music scene in Adelaide with a large mix of genres which helped us to realise that we didn’t need to box our sound and gave us creative freedom when writing. We were playing gigs in Adelaide at the same time as writing the album so had the audience in the back of our minds throughout the writing process and how we could engage with them/put on a show when performing the music live.
The instrumentation in your music seems quite layered, from groovy bass to atmospheric keys. How do you go about building a track, and what part of the production tends to come first?
The way we build our tracks can vary but for the most part we’ll usually start with writing some kind of bass line and then jamming over it. Then we’ll typically decide on a song structure and start building the instrumentation from there. The vocal melodies are almost always one of the last things to be written followed by the lyrics and any instrumental solos.
With your debut album coming early next year, what has the journey been like from forming as a band to recording your first full-length project?
It already feels like it’s been a long journey. We had been playing gigs together in another band since 2022 but only formed After Dark and started writing the album in November, last year. At some stages we were worried we had bitten off more than we could chew with all the work, time, money and effort that’s been involved but we were determined to make a full-length album. We came up with different marketing ideas such as the, “Sneak Peak album tour” around Adelaide to allow us to raise some money for the album as well as test out our ideas. We still have lots of work to do before releasing the album early next year, but we are finally starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel.
What can fans look forward to in terms of live performances and upcoming gigs to celebrate the album’s release? Any special plans?
We are unable to announce anything as of yet. However, we do have more singles off the album coming very soon and fans can expect big things with an official album launch party early next year so stay tuned!
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