Cleveland band NIIGHTS claim allegiance to Smashing Pumpkins and My Bloody Valentine, but their musical output is harder to triangulate than those influences might indicate. Two ingredients that loom large in the mix are pop-punk and dream-pop — two genres that historically have not gone together — but NIIGHTS successfully merged them on recent single “So Into You,” and they’ve done it again on “Keyhole.”

The latter song, premiering here today, joins the former on the tracklist of NIIGHTS’ upcoming album Hellebores. “Keyhole” spends its three-minute run time bounding from a purposeful earthbound chug into gorgeous celestial puddles and back. It presents an intriguing future for sleek, catchy guitar music.

As for the subject matter, the band explains via email: “The song sounds like it’s about voyeurism, but it’s a metaphor for noticing a transformation in someone who does not know you are actively paying attention to them. Themes of birth/rebirth appear heavily on this album.”

Listen below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Generator”
02 “So Into You”
03 “Trail Of Blood”
04 “Stars”
05 “Keyhole”
06 “It Was”
07 “Hellebores”
08 “With Bated Breath”
09 “Sylvia”
10 “Caterpillar”

Hellebores is out in February via Sun Pedal Recordings, but you can get it early by pre-ordering it here.