Based in the Texan city of San Antonio, and with deep roots in Mexican culture, darkwave/synth punk solo artist Night Ritualz (aka Vincent Guerrero IV) weaves Tejano influences into his songs, blending English and Spanish lyrics into music that combines atmospheric soundscapes suffused with pulse-pounding beats to tell stories that are both deeply personal and universally relatable.
Having released a number of singles since 2023, these and several new songs that include current single āSharing Skinā STREAM are included on a self-titled debut album released by Metropolis Records today (7th March). He describes the record as āa time stamp in my music journey. The songs are all very different and I feel that itās a good representation of myself and where I am at this point in my life.ā
Night Ritualz initially drew inspiration from artists such as Depeche Mode, Deftones and At The Drive-In, blurring the line between dark wave, electronica, EBM and post-punk to create a genre he terms āFuck Waveā.
āāFuck Waveā is anything horny, erotic and sensual that just makes people feel good,āhe explains. āI feel like my music puts people in that mood and allows them to just be themselves without judgement of any kind. Another reason is because, at the end of the day, āFuckā what everyone thinks. We only have one life, so spend it doing stuff you like and that makes you happy. I see it as an empowering term.ā
Delving deeper into what he wants his listeners to get out of his music, he continues: āI want people to feel like Iām being real with them. I don’t write stuff to sound cool or be something Iām not. Iām telling real stories and experiences that Iāve gone through in my life. Depending on the song, I might want listeners to get hyped up to hit a club and dance with all their homies, or I might want them to plan on running away to another country to meet the love of their life.”
As for the eponymous album title: āI was thinking long term andĀ for my first official album I wanted something that I can look back on and be proud of. Self-titling it is like a guy naming his first son Jr after himself. It would be weird to name your second kid Jr!ā
NIGHT RITUALZ
TRACKLISTING
1Ā Make Me Feel
2Ā Take Me 2 The Crib
3Ā Cross My Heart
4Ā SoƱar
5Ā Vida (feat. Vick Vapors)
6Ā Try Means Fail
7Ā Cuando Andas
8Ā Sharing Skin
9Ā Hace Tiempo
10Ā Turn N Burn
11Ā Take My Eyes
12Ā I Never Get What I Wanted (feat. Philadonna)