Ciao Lucifer is the feel-good project of Amsterdam-based songwriters/musicians Marnix Dorrestein (guitars, bass, vocals) and Willem Wits (drums, percussion, vocals, kazoo). On their latest long-player, Sunset Riders, the duo stopped second-guessing themselves and started following their instincts. Recorded in just three days, mostly in first takes, these eleven songs have the same unbuttoned quality as a night that wasn’t supposed to get this late, sometime in the late summer of 2007 or 2008.

This is all bright guitars and loose-limbed rhythms, capped with hooks and choruses that seem to arrive wearing sunglasses. However, some dark clouds float within the lyrics, from which words about overthinking and emotional entanglement fall: “Blowing the growing of something beautiful and lows begin to show // You settle for mediocre knowing that I will cringe from head to toe” (from Get Me In / Get Me Out). The album doesn’t solve life’s problems, but it makes them considerably more fun to dance with.

Sunset Riders—produced by Simon Akkermans and Ciao Lucifer—is out digitally (self-released).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp