The Swedish city of Jönköping is probably unknown to most people outside of Sweden unless they have an interest in safety matches. That is because the town was a major producer of safety matches for more than a century, even if the only reminder that now remains in the town is its Match Museum. But 2023 saw another reason for the city to be better known: an upstart band by the name of Streetlight released a debut album, Ignition, that created waves in melodic rock circles. Two years on, and Streetlight now have the opportunity to cement their success with Night Vision, or alternatively to trip up on the sophomore album syndrome. Let’s dive in to see which it might be.
Long-Distance Runner certainly opens the album in assured style with a perfect slab of ‘80s inspired melodic rock. It’s infectiously upbeat and has a great hook line. It also demonstrates upfront one of the strengths of Streetlight which is their use of vocal harmonies. Singer Johannes Häger has a strong voice, and he’s supported by the other four members who all contribute backing vocals.
If the fairly lightweight keyboard-dominated sound of that opener is what you would expect from Streetlight, the following Captured In The Night has a surprisingly gritty guitar riff as the band embrace a hard rock sound. Listen to the guitar solo – which you could have mistaken for Blackmore – and you’ll see how guitarist Filip Stenlund has changed the sound of Streetlight here, as he does elsewhere on this album. The jagged guitar chords that run through Sleep Walk is another example of this harder sound, as is the raucous rock’n’roll of Straight To Video. Perhaps less successful is Late Night Hollywood that stomps along energetically but seems a little too close for comfort to Bon Jovi’s Bad Medicine.
Streetlight’s growth can also be seen in the more experimental touches. I’ll come to the final song shortly, but even in the relatively straight forward Sleep Walk there’s the unexpected effect of an a cappella closing section. Leanna is a track full of originality from the reggae rhythm in the verse to the oom-pah feel of the bridge section. With so many bands churning out ‘80s-AOR-by-numbers, such attempts to try something a bit different are welcome. Not all ten tracks can maintain this high level of quality. Neither of the two power ballads – Learn To Love Again and Where Did Love Go – bristle with originality, for example, but overall this is a consistently good album that keeps one fully engaged and entertained.
The closing End Game is a classy track that, unusually in this genre, lasts for over seven minutes, and demonstrates a remarkable leaning towards prog. The main vocal section bustles along in typical melodic rock style, but bits of prog creep in from the burst of Kansas-style keys through to the unexpected introduction of the sax. And then there’s the very prog-sounding ending: you’d swear that Steve Rothery had stepped into the studio to knock off one of his ecstatic Marillion guitar solos. End Game might mark the point where Streetlight shed their AOR roots and become something much more adventurous.
There’s little doubt that Night Vision is a worthy successor to Ignition. The old match producing city of Jönköping looks like it has spawned a band that is more than a match for the big names in the melodic rock genre.
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