Stream: Nights & Weekends, ‘Music For Marriage’ (full album)

Daiana Feuer on August 25th, 2017

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Jenny and Daron Hollowell formed Nights & Weekends as a sort of DIY therapy for their relationship. Speaking as one (because that’s how married people do), they explain: “We had just made a move from New York to L.A., had recently become parents for the second time and we were parting ways with Black/White Iris, the music collective we both worked with. It was a pretty intense set of circumstances that brought a lot of things to the surface.”

They began writing songs together to generate an open conversation, each song building on the themes and issues they were trying to work through. “Making music together allowed us to explore aspects of ourselves and each other that we hadn’t had access to before,” they continue. “The songwriting process gave us this space where we felt like we could say anything … It was incredibly freeing and cathartic. Opening up like that led to us learning new things about each other. It was like seeing someone you’ve known for a long time with a different set of eyes.”

Daron is a producer (Best Coast, FIDLAR) and founded White Iris Records. Jenny is an author, with several books and short stories that have received critical praise. Here in L.A., they started a new label together, Ring The Alarm. Between that and raising kids, their plate was full, but they needed this creative outlet to work out their issues. Once they had 20 songs, they asked their neighbor, Adam Samuel Goldman (Fol Chen, Bedroom Walls), to help them produce a cohesive album. The songs on “Music For Marriage” have a dreamy, at times uneasy atmosphere, and an unhurried pace. Daron sings lead on most songs; his voice is hushed, like he’s whispering to his wife in the dark, but the anxieties he sings about are palpable in his tone. The lyrics discuss regret, escape, paying the rent, leaving their life behind, having to start over, and trying to understand themselves as individuals as well as partners. But even in the most fretful moments, the solution is hold on to love through the friction.

“Writing the album really bonded us,” they say. “It gave us an outlet for the frustration, anxiety, and confusion we were feeling in this moment of transition. Plus it was just nice to have a project and be working together creatively. We were helping each other with ideas, melodies, lyrics, structure … and it actually became fun. We were in it together and that made everything feel more manageable.”

“Music For Marriage” is out today on Ring The Alarm.

||| Stream: “Music For Marriage”