Ears Wide Open: Nightmare Boy

Kevin Bronson on May 12th, 2015

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Nightmare Boy is the nom de tune of Barrie-James O’Neill, a Scotsman who forsook Glasgow for L.A. about a year ago and whose debut EP, “Hate,” which came out in March, is drawing comparisons to the likes of Elliott Smith. Such parallels are not to be taken lightly, but it is apt here: O’Neill’s mostly spare meditations seem to exist in a world all their own, and he sings as if he’s lived a few lives, and maybe some of yours too. The onetime frontman of the Scottish folk-rock band Kassidy, O’Neill also co-wrote “Brooklyn Baby” and covered Lee Hazlewood’s “Summer Wine” with Lana Del Rey (his girlfriend at the time). The single “Chivalry Is Alive and Well and Living in Glasgow” was produced by Rob Schnapf and the rest of the EP by Manny Nieto, with contributions from Solomon Walker (Morrissey), Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes) and Erik Von Herzen (Social Distortion). As for the short film “Scumbag,” it features a medley of songs with beautiful visuals stitched together by director Joe Rubalcaba, and was filmed partly in Josh Homme’s L.A. studio. It’s worth every second of its 26 minutes.

||| Stream: “Pretending Not to Breathe” and “Chivalry Is Alive and Well and Living in Glasgow”