An Overnight Low

The music of An Overnight Low is based on a journey, one that has inspired a trilogy of travel-themed albums. Delayed at Heathrow airport for nine hours and facing another six on his flight home for Christmas, Chad Walls pulled out the pictures, videos and interviews that he had collected over the past year while studying at The University of Manchester in England. Over several cups of Costa Coffee, he organized the scattered items in folders on his laptop while waiting for his flight. The year of distance had provided an objectivity, which soon allowed him to recognize common themes in unrelated moments. Chad’s songs have been divided into four studio albums, each named after one of the five train stations he frequented most: Euston (released 2014), Piccadilly (released 2015), Waverley (released 2017) Connolly, Part One (2020) and Connolly, Part Two (2021) . An Overnight Low (featuring Mac Coldwell, Chris Mayo, and Sam Anderson) is the band that Chad formed to help bring his songs to life, both in the recording studio and on the performance stage. To highlight their live show, they also released Live: Local Motives (released 2018). The first release of the trilogy, Euston, was released in 2014 to favorable reviews. Ben Meiklejohn of Mainley Media observed that Euston “sounds like R.E.M. would sound like if they were downgraded from being a spectacle arena-rock band to being a small folk-rock band performing in a café.” Mark Curdo, DJ for WCYY and a contributing writer for Maine Magazine, says Euston “delivers vintage, old-school college rock- from back when college radio was at its finest.” Rick Johnson of the Portland Press Herald added, “The resulting song cycle that makes up the album plays like a great road movie, and hits all the essential road movie bullet points along the way, including lost loves, fading friendships, loneliness tinged with excitement, travel in general and the characters one meets along the way on any journey.”

Euston also received positive reviews in the UK. One track from that album, “Goodnight, Portland”, was named "Single of the Week" on Salford City Radio, and members of An Overnight Low are regulars on David Gray’s Punk Monk Show on 94.4 FM Salford City Radio. Piccadilly debuted at #1 on Bull Moose’s “Top 10 Local Releases” when it arrived in November of 2015, and also received positive reviews. Mike Dow of The Maine Edge praised An Overnight Low’s “smooth sound, especially in a live setting”, while also calling Piccadilly “one of the most rewarding Maine-made listens of 2015.” Gascan Magazine stated that “Albert’s Square”, a track from Piccadilly, “feels like an undiscovered Beatles demo”, while Emily Stoddard-Burnham of BDN’s Culture Shock noted that, “Piccadilly is, naturally, a continuation of themes explored in Euston… It’s also a musical continuation, that’s very much in keeping with the tuneful, melodic, Beatles-haunted indie pop that was present on the first album.” At the close of 2015, “Dragonfly”, the opening track on Piccadilly, was also featured on Callum Mitchell’s (Salford City Radio/Reverbnation) “Best of 2015” on Spotify. With producer/engineer Jonathan Wyman once again at the helm, Waverley finds An Overnight Low exploring new sonic landscapes. Lyrically, Waverley continues where Piccadilly left off, exploring old ghosts and demons in the wonderful city of Edinburgh. This time around, you can join Chad as he relates stories pertaining to the Edinburgh Fringe, spirits in a dwelling, street foxes, a “double-dose of iodine”, and a city that, at least from on high, looks like the inside of a trumpet. Waverley also seems to appeal to critics who found that Waverley was “A big pop take with confident elements” (We All Want Someone to Shout For), “their most musically varied and richly-produced collection yet (Mike Dow, The Maine Edge) and “a really uplifting collection of songs, even in those moments when it is dealing with darker themes. It’s a truly mature collaboration between musicians who are still in touch with their inner child – so are bold enough to name life’s games and free enough to have fun.” (David Gray, Salford City Radio)

So, what happens next, now that The Overnight Low Express has finally entered Waverley Station? Well, rest assured, the band has not run out of steam. In the closing months of 2017, a new live album was released, “Live: Local Motives.” At around the same time, Chad began hosting his own radio show on Salford City Radio called, appropriately enough, “An Overnight Low,” providing a wonderful opportunity to promote the band’s music, along with the music of other up and coming local artists. As 2017 drew to a close, An Overnight Low received a Portland Music Award, recognized as the city’s “Best Rock Act” by the readers of the Portland Phoenix. Acknowledging the award, the Phoenix stated “Keeping with the train metaphors, An Overnight Low has proved they’re not just passing through; they’re here to stay.”

In 2018, An Overnight Low debuted the first single, Galileo Chains, from Connolly, Part One. The single received a wide airplay in the United States, England, and Ireland (The Tom Dunne Show on Newstalk 106 FM, Dublin FM, KCLR 96FM, Radio8, and Community Radio Kilkenny City). Mystic Sons (London) said that An Overnight Low “channels the retro sound of R.E.M. for this swooning alt-rock delight.” Barry Gruff (Ireland) also acknowledged Galileo Chains as a “bright, upbeat & melodic slice of jangley guitar-pop,” At Cost Magazine (Canada) declared it “a bright and rosy twee sound with instrumental warmth” while When the Horn Blows (London) found that Galileo Chains has “a great energy, attitude and bounce.” In 2019, An Overnight Low finished recording the second single, Another Plot at the Wrong Time of June (featuring Monique Barrett) again with Jonathan Wyman at The Halo and Adam Ayan at Gateway Studios. Despite restrictions implemented due to a global pandemic, An Overnight Low still managed to enjoy a productive 2020. The band continued to work on Connolly, Part Two throughout the year, recording numerous songs at four separate studios, with help provided by a host of distinguished local musicians. In all, ten new tracks were completed. Having this wealth of new material prompted the release of three singles over the course of the year. The first single, “New Fascinations”, was released in early July, along with an accompanying video. That video, with its theme of pandemic-induced isolation, resonated with the band’s fan base, garnering hundreds of views in just a few days. As for the song itself, Sam Pfeifle of the Portland Phoenix noted that AOL sounded “like a band that put a lot of care and attention into what they were trying to produce”. Proceeds from the sale of “New Fascinations” were donated to the employee tip jar at Elements Books Coffee Beer in Biddeford ME, one of the band’s favorite venues.

“Dover Thrift Edition” (single version) was released as a single in late August and received repeated airplay on local radio. The song was accompanied by a video, which continued AOL’s exploration into themes of isolation and disconnection. The year’s final release was a holiday single, “Gold Star”, which became available to the public on December 3rd. In the Portland Press Herald, Aimsel Ponti described the song as being “the good kind of infectious”, while Mike Dow of The Maine Edge proclaimed that “Gold Star” was a “tasty bite of bright power pop”. All funds received for sale of the single were donated to the Center for Grieving Children in Portland, Maine. Now, as we enter 2021, An Overnight Low has high hopes for the year ahead. Connolly, Part Two is nearing completion, and a release date will be announced in the coming weeks. With still more songs written and ready to record, an additional EP by year’s end is a distinct possibility. With any luck, the band will also resume live performances in 2021. Optimism is the operative word. Even after a tumultuous 2020, An Overnight Low is on the right track.