Cozy and Cool: Minneapolis’ Night Moves’ Back With Double Life
Label: Domino
Released: July 25, 2025
By Liam Owen
It is 98 degrees just outside of Tucson, Ariz., on a July afternoon and your ’69 Camaro won’t start. Fear creeps in as your options begin to melt in the sweltering heat. You had hoped to hit the road soon; it takes around six hours to get to San Diego and you would prefer to not drive in the dark. You end up spending too much time scrolling through the digital wasteland trying to research what could be wrong. This was supposed to be your fresh start from a string of rough breaks, but now instead of moving on, you’re stalling out. You decide to try the ignition one last time and pray. Suddenly, the car growls to life. It’s such an inexplicable silver lining it has to be destiny. You start your drive with your windows down so you can feel the wind blow through your hair. This is what listening to Night Moves’ newest LP feels like.
Double Life, the band’s fourth record and first in six years, was built from navigating tough situations. A loved one’s death, another’s struggle with sobriety, a friend getting arrested; John Pelant and the rest of Night Moves have been through them all—and that is not an exhaustive list. As he was thinking about addiction and death, trying to find nuggets of gold in pans of mud, Pelant crafted these tracks as direct documents of his life. The songs are raw and down-to-Earth testaments to grinding through life while holding onto the good times.
Most of the tracks could be in an ’80s movie montage in which the main character is trying to find himself, especially “Daytona.” The hazy synths and abrasive vocals create an easy-going sense of nostalgia. The use of differing instruments, including the harmonica on “White Liquor” and “Hold On To Tonight,” adds to this feeling, like looking at old polaroids from a first date you went on a decade ago. The background vocals and tambourine on “Ring My Bell” combine with a catchy chorus to keep the track chugging along down the road. This is an album for wanderers who know they have to move but don’t know where to go.
Your Camaro, though durable, might still end up sputtering. The sun might still scorch the vinyl seats and overwhelm the engine. However, Double Life makes the trip feel worth it, not because it promises a clean getaway, but because it rides shotgun through the mess. It’s music for the in-between, when moving on isn’t possible yet, but moving through still is.