Before We Begin by Night Hawk

Review by Sienna Edwards

Colter Adams and Peyton Semjen of Night Hawk’s debut album “Before We Begin” is a bittersweet and longing look into young love and the fear of change. Written after they graduated college in Maine and moved to Washington DC, Semjen and Adams reflect on teenage adventures and troubles on Winter in New England, a disintegrating relationship on Rest, and lives in transition on Beach Town. “Before We Begin” signals simultaneously the bleak static before a new start and the desperation to hold on to that bleakness before it changes forever. Semjen and Adams slip between folk and pop punk on this debut album, opening with the stripped-back Those Lights, transitioning into the loud electric guitars on the subsequent track Rest, reaching a mid-point with the groovy sound of Paper Receipts and finally ending with the somber Something On My Mind.

Semjen and Adams’ voices compliment each other in their monotony, whether blended together in harmony, answering each other, or bursting together in chorus. Semjen’s vocal ability shines specifically in songs like Rest and Alone in the Summer, where she shakes the monotonous tone and rises to an early Hayley Williams-esque whine, complimenting the teenage angst coating the lyrics. These are songs where I can easily picture a live performance shaking the room. Adams also gets room to take centre stage, favoured in calmer tracks like Pale Blue, one of the sweeter songs on the album and a personal highlight. The lyricism in conceptual songs like Roadkill, which draws a comparison between a downed squirrel and a relationship in conflict, and Scary Movie, which compares horror scenarios to a similar situation, are evocative companion pieces that elevate the album out of sameness. Finally, the closing track Something On My Mind tells us “you give up before we begin,” referencing the album title and closing the chapter on an ending relationship. This track takes us through the transitory phase of the characters of this album and cleverly subverts the expectation that the album’s title gives us: Before We Begin is not a beginning, but an ending. With, perhaps, the start of something entirely new.

Semjen and Adams’ partnership goes through fluid phases throughout the album, sometimes resembling desperate lovers and other times melancholic friends. Both dynamics encapsulate the anxious feeling of growing up while holding on to your former life as a teenager. The potential of Night Hawk is clear in their dedication to a concept that feels authentic to their moody style, uplifted by producers Colter and Colin Miller (Indigo De Souza, MJ Lenderman) and brought to fruition by violin accompaniment, crashing guitars and drums, and measured strumming from Emma Chun (violin), Courtney Burnett (drums), Alex Kozic (guitar), and Shea Sewall (bass). I’m excited to hear their style develop in the future, but for now, we can listen to their beginning.

The album is out on all platforms on August 7, 2025. The band's East Coast tour will begin in Portland, ME on August 7 and conclude in Nashville, TN on August 30.

Photos by Izzy Dachs (@isabellesphotographs)