Biting Into the Darkness: Joel Christian on the Inspirations and Transformations Behind 'It Only Comes At Night'

Your new album, It Only Comes At Night, feels like stepping into another world. What inspired this dark electronic journey? Hi Buzz!! I am so excited to be back and speaking with one of my favorites! This album has truly been so fun to create. My last album, "Dark Magic," was kind of like the introduction from me being a stylist to showing that audience that I love making music. You know, I've been making music for so long now, but these last 5 years have been the most memorable part of this journey. "Dark Magic" led me to this new album, "It Only Comes At Night," because I feel like this project truly defines me as an artist.

It Only Comes At Night has such a strong visual aesthetic to match the sound. What was your goal in terms of the overall vibe and feel? I wanted the visuals to kind of show like the technology and the electronics were taking over my body and mind and birthed the album in a sense. I really wanted this album to grab you and never let you go (musically of course) haha. I sat down with my producers and said we are making an electronic album. It needs to be high volume, high energy, and, most of all, with my vibe, such as my dark undertones, twists and turns sonically, and much more. I think we pretty much nailed it. From start to finish, this album is fast, contagious, and almost like a wild ride into my creative process. 

"Take A Bite" almost sets a vampiric tone for It Only Comes At Night. Can you tell us about the making of this track and why you chose it for the album's introduction?  Well, that's so funny you said vampiric tone cause that's what I was going for! I was watching a vampire movie one night, and I said, damn, it's so cool this creature takes a bite of you, and you become a part of their world. I was like, that's going to be my song title, "Take A Bite," because I wanted you to come into this project. I always obsess over the track lists of my projects and make sure the flow works. This song felt right in the beginning. It's high energy, unexpected, and most of all fast, leading you into the next track. It's a great unique intro to start the album.

It Only Comes At Night seems to tell a story of transformation. How does "Where Did He Go?" bring this narrative to a close? The whole album I think is about transformation and most of all acceptance. For so many years, I have internally battled with fighting myself to be an artist. I love creating music but never felt heard in a way that satisfied me. I always felt like an outsider because I wanted to make music that I liked or felt like me. I didn't really care to be mainstream or famous. I just wanted to make music that was me. Period.

With this album, I really dug into that confidence, especially with the success of my last album, I felt proud for what I had created. I felt that "Dark Magic" was my introduction to the music scene, and this album is my confirmation that I'm not going anywhere. With the title, "Where Did He Go?"

It's almost like I'm messing around with the idea that I've always been here, but you just didn't see me. I was isolated into a creative cocoon to create more music, but no one was listening. It's a song about losing yourself and finding your way again. It definitely has an undertone of sadness, isolation, confusion...but overcoming that and making your mark. 

Which song from It Only Comes At Night stands out as your personal favorite? What makes you gravitate to that track? I really love all of them, but I felt such a deep, dark connection to Siren. I wrote that song and sang it for the first time, and I had goosebumps. Vocally, I loved how dark and seductive my vocals got and it almost has this eery luring vibe to it. I can't stop listening to it. Especially those synthesizers and drums...I'm such a nerd to synthwave, but damn, it's definitely one of my favorite tracks. Lyrically, it was so fun writing it, too. My favorite is that it can have so many different interpretations throughout the track of what it is actually about...I'll let the fans decide.

Read more on Joel Christian's latest release, It Only Comes At Night, here.