Against the cultural winds of quick fixes “art rock for hermits” songwriter, composer, and poet Ethan Gold is riding a train the other way with the Earth City trilogy about the spirit struggling to survive a hyper-connected but alienated world.

Earth City 2: Nightfolk expands on the lonely stories of Earth City 1: The Longing into a collective energy, the many stories of the night. Like the subways and trains running through the songs and videos, through a weekend night the people in his songs seek love and sex and release, while still fighting their demons. Come on board for Earth City 2: Nightfolk’s 11 tracks of rousing and nervously romantic anthems,moody journeys of loss, and stories of introverts and self-haters stepping from their shells across the global city and across the late hours. Some rejoice, others don’t survive, and others emerge bruised but still searching for a meaning that hasn’t yet revealed itself.

Gold produced the album in Glasgow, Berlin, Los Angeles, and Nashville. The sound is a mixture of indie rock, folk, and art rock, with synths, fiddle, accordion and raw background vocals backing the foundation of guitar, piano, drums, and Gold’s naked voice. This is art rock for hermits, for the nightfolk…. All aboard.