In advance of their upcoming US tour with MJ Lenderman and the Wind, Nap Eyes are sharing their recent Lagniappe Session for Aquarium Drunkard, featuring two new covers of songs originally recorded by Kathy Heideman and fellow Canadian legends the Tragically Hip.
In the words of Aquarium Drunkard:
“Nova Scotian quartet Nap Eyes have the right stuff: eclectic and clattering rock & roll moves, a distinct zone, and best of all, sly and quixotic lyrics. On their latest, 2024’s The Neon Gate, songwriter Nigel Chapman manages to pull in nods to Nintendo 64 games, Russian poets, French filmmaker Chris Marker, and Goo Goo Dolls megahits, resulting in a work that feels real and lived in in a way that so many of their indie rock contemporaries fail to achieve. For their second Lagniappe Session, the band gathers up two stunners. Basic tracking was done with René Wilson at Value Sound Studios in Montreal, and then augmented by select overdubs at home by Brad Labelle and Chapman. Read the two on their selections below.”
Nap Eyes :: The Earth Won’t Hold Me (Kathy Heideman)
Brad Labelle: I loved all Kathy Heideman’s songs when I first heard the Numero Group reissue back in 2013, but “The Earth Won’t Hold Me” stood out for its metaphysical lyrics that I feel fit nicely within the Nap Eyes world. I love the surprising key shift as well, it really adds to the propulsion of the song and elevates the lyrical theme.
Nap Eyes :: My Music at Work (The Tragically Hip)
Nigel Chapman: I’ve loved this song ever since I first heard it as a young teenager. The Hip are icons here in Canada, but not so widely known in the rest of the world. At a glance, this song is focused and easy to remember. The original is a satisfying, lively recording. A close listen reveals that Gord Downie’s lyrics are far from conventional, and very vivid. We recorded the basis for these tracks with our friend René Wilson at Value Sound Studios in Montreal, and then later added some select overdubs at home, mostly by Brad and a little by Nigel.
TOUR DATES:
- Sep 3 Wed – Mission Ballroom @ 8:00 PM – Denver, CO
- Sep 5 Fri – Cain’s Ballroom @ 7:30 PM – Tulsa, OK
- Sep 6 Sat – Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall @ 8:00 PM – Fort Worth, TX
- Sep 8 Mon – The Van Buren @ 8:00 PM – Phoenix
- Sep 9 Tue – Humphreys Concerts By the Bay @ 7:30 PM – San Diego, CA
- Sep 11 Thu – Shrine Expo Hall @ 8:00 PM – Los Angeles, CA *
- Sep 12 Fri – Fox Theater @ 8:00 PM – Oakland, CA
- Sep 13 Sat – Gundlach Bundschu Winery @ 7:00 PM – Sonoma, CA
- Sep 15 Mon – Revolution Hall @ 7:00 PM – Portland, OR
- Sep 16 Tue – Revolution Hall @ 7:00 PM – Portland, OR
- Sep 18 Wed – The Moore Theatre @ 8:00 PM- Seattle, WA
- Sep 19 Fri – Malkin Bowl @ 6:00 PM – Vancouver, BC, Canada
All dates with MJ Lenderman and the Wind, except *, also featuring Cass McCombs
Highlights
- The follow-up to the critically acclaimed The Neon Gate (2024, PoB-077)
- Artist page/tour dates/links for Nap Eyes
- Smartlink
Tracklist
1. “The Earth Won’t Hold Me” 2:57
2. “My Music at Work” 3:03
Catalog Number / Formats / Release Date
PoB-079 / Digital / September 2nd, 2025
Purchase from PoB above or support via
- Bandcamp (DL/stream)
- Other Options (DL/stream)
More from Nap Eyes
-
Nap Eyes: Aquarium Drunkard’s Lagniappe Session 2025
Price range: $2.00 through $4.00Nap Eyes: The Neon Gate
Price range: $9.00 through $34.00Nap Eyes: Demons
Price range: $1.00 through $2.00Nap Eyes: Feline Wave Race
Price range: $3.00 through $4.00Nap Eyes: Snapshot of a Beginner
Nap Eyes: Too Bad
Price range: $2.00 through $4.00Videos and Streaming
Acknowledgments
Nova Scotia indie-rock four piece Nap Eyes are erudite and brilliant, but they wear their genius lightly, like the ruffian boys in class who secretly got straight As … Their superlative fifth album … moves with appealing weightlessness … the kind of songs you’d want to live with for ever.
– The Guardian
Fripp-esque sustain, synths, and drum machines color a beautifully constructed record that brings to mind Aztec Camera’s High Land, Hard Rain or Scritti Politti’s Songs to Remember.
– Uncut
The Neon Gate finds Nap Eyes adopting new forms and expanding—these are among Chapman’s most empathetic and charmed compositions yet.
– Aquarium Drunkard
Taking inspiration from Yeats and Pushkin poems alongside the natural world, Nap Eyes finds the phantasmagorical in the familiar, like a psychedelic Comp Lit syllabus that turns the known world on its head.
– Pitchfork
A remarkable accomplishment.
– Stereogum
Nap Eyes’ playful fifth album finds the perfect middle ground between live rawness and a glossy studio sound, as the band packs their mid-fi rock jams with fried guitar solos, electronic grooves, and a genuinely funky adaptation of W.B. Yeats … Miraculously, these contrasting pieces—hip-hop hi-hats and folky guitars, verbose lyrics and ripping solos—come together as a cohesive whole. Their members might not change like The Fall’s did, but the cliché remains: Nap Eyes are always different, always the same.
– FLOOD
How can you sustain this many ideas over the length of an album? Somehow, Nap Eyes manage it. The quartet manage to keep the energy — a very singular energy, multidimensional but featherlight, full of momentum but never sweaty or frantic — until the final note. Nap Eyes find themselves on a particular, illuminating wavelength this time around, and they leave their gate swung open for whatever may come their way next.
– Exclaim (Staff Pick)
A gem of a record … I must have listened to the hooky “Tangent Resolve” 50 times already.
– Morning Star
Each new Nap Eyes album still feels like an event … The surprises that appear at every turn offset the studied slacker vibes of Chapman’s singing, and the whole thing ends up twisting memory and contorting space and time in the most satisfying ways. Nap Eyes seem to create a different niche for themselves with every new album; long may it continue.
– KLOF
These songs are poetic, and not just because the words are poems. Their poetry lies in the music itself: Chapman’s reserved but powerful delivery, their lulling, hypnotic repetitions, the avian chorus of squawking guitars and chirping synths. This marriage of words and music captures something ineffable that lies between thought and expression (to borrow a phrase from Lou Reed), and with it, Nap Eyes have produced a beautiful, literary, aspirational, and inspiring work.
– Post-Trash
Nap Eyes’ musical horizons only continue to broaden, and the vistas are something to behold … they stand on tiptoe as they continue to contemplate amidst their most adventurous songwriting to date.
– Northern Transmissions
The poem’s narrative nature fits perfectly into the realm the Nova Scotians have crafted; they’ve crafted this stunning elegance, almost as if it was meant as part of some ancient folk symphony. Nigel’s voice, like a moth to the flame … pulls you into the storytelling. Very few acts are crafting music in this matter, so feel free to raise your glass to these lads.
– Austin Town Hall
Clean, tightly wound power pop that places Chapman’s remarkable talent for lyric writing front and center.
– The FADER
Quietly devastating … a beautifully patient reintroduction to the group.
– Exclaim!
Slow blooming bliss … worth the wait.
– Raven Sings the Blues
Masters of subtlety. Nap Eyes have made much ado about meaninglessness with rock ‘n’ roll songs that shake just offbeat and smart lyrics wrapped in bemused ennui.
– NPR Music
[Snapshot of a Beginner] feels as much a modest masterpiece as [The Go-Betweens’] Spring Hill Fair or [Belle and Sebastian’s] Tigermilk. What sets them apart is the fear and trembling in Nigel Chapman’s reedy monotone and guitarist Brad Loughead, who unleashes the full Verlainian screaming bluebird repertoire.
– Uncut
Few songwriters write about malaise with as much charm and empathetic chill as Nigel Chapman.
– Aquarium Drunkard
Brimming with passion and protest … Immediately familiar, yet bracingly distinct… one the most intriguingly idiosyncratic lyricists this side of Dan Bejar.
– Pitchfork
One of the most fascinating songwriters we have today.
– Newsweek
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