Black Light Animals return with dancey, flirty new LP Last Call Love Songs

Black Light Animals. // photo by Kyle Braun

While they’ve been steadily releasing singles since, it’s been almost four years since Playboys of the Western World, the debut full-length from Kansas City’s from Black Light Animals.

That record blended psych rock, spaghetti western soundtracks, and a hint of soul into a unique sound, and rapidly became a favorite around here.

Now, Black Light Animals is poised to release their sophomore LP, Last Call Love Songs, on Friday, March 28.

For those who haven’t been following the string of singles over the last few years (including an amazing cover of Brandy’s “I Wanna Be Down” last summer), the new record might come as a bit of a surprise, but if you’ve been tracking Black Light Animals’ evolution, it’ll make complete sense.

Loaded as it is with danceable, soulful tunes, Last Call Love Songs sounds exactly what the title says, in that these are the songs that play in the back of your mind as you gaze across the bar at that cutie you’ve noticed all night long and wonder if you should make your move.

Ahead of the release of Last Call Love Songs, we spoke with Black Light Animals’ lead vocalist and guitarist Cole Bales about the new album.

The Pitch: Black Light Animals has evolved considerably since its debut LP, Playboys of the Western World, four years ago. What prompted that shift to something more danceable?

Cole Bales: We’ve always wanted each album to exist in its own world, so we knew whatever we did next wasn’t going to be Playboys part two. In our mind, if we don’t have something new to say, there’s no reason to make a record. All of the artists we admire most, be it The Beatles or Arctic Monkeys or Bowie, had this way of drastically transforming their sound from record to record while still retaining the essence of what made them unique and we’ve always strived to do the same. Soul and dance music have always been a part of our lives, but we thought it would be interesting to bring it to the forefront this time and see what it sounded like through the BLA filter.

Regardless of the genre shift, it feels like you’re still very much steeped in the sounds and styles of the ’70s. Why are you so attracted to that era?

As far as the ’70s influence goes, we never strive to do anything that sounds “vintage” or of a particular era, but that vibe may come through as a product of how we record: straight to tape, mostly live in the room, leave in the mistakes, no auto-tune, etc. Regardless of what genre we’re tackling that’s how we like to record. In this record in particular, I wanted to bring in elements of the early 2000s hip hop and R&B I grew up hearing on the radio, including playing around with chopping and sampling some of our live performances so they sounded like loops. Our main goal was just to make a record that sounds great when you’re driving in your car.

How did you come to work with Jass and what keeps you bringing her back as a collaborator?

We’ve really admired Jass ever since we heard her debut, At the Close of a Decade. It was immediately clear that we shared the same sonic sensibilities and she is just so effortlessly creative. The spoken word interludes she did on this record were basically her improvising on the spot, which she’s fantastic at. We’re really excited to continue working with her.

Where does the Black Light Animals’ visual aesthetic come from?

We decided early on that the visual aesthetic of this band was going to be equally important to the sonics, be it the album art or the way we dress, etc. We’re as much inspired by movies and photography as we are by music when we are writing so we develop the visual identity along with the music when we’re making a record. I think it’s important for each album to feel like its own lived-in world and to be as all-encompassing as it can be, especially as music becomes more and more disposable. It’s nice to feel like you can just sit with something for awhile.

We also had a lot of visual help from some very creative people, like Joshua Wilkinson, who did the art for our last album and laid out this album’s art, Kyle Braun, the photographer who took the cover shot, or Dave Brick, who shot all of the promo videos.

Both you, Cole, and Branden Moser play in the Freedom Affair. What’s the difference for you all creatively between fronting a band and being part of what is essentially a collective?

It’s hard to compare being in The Freedom Affair to BLA because they’re such different experiences even though there’s a lot of crossover. Freedom Affair is a family affair and all of us have a hand in working on the songs, so I think they feel a bit more universal. FA is also much more of a live experience so the songs are designed around that. BLA is a more personal experience to me; the songs are much more intimate and are designed in the studio, so the idea of playing them in front of an audience doesn’t really even come into play until we have to think about playing them live. BLA is the more introverted side of things.

After the album release and its attendant show, where do you see Black Light Animals going for the remainder of 2025?

Going forward, I hope BLA will be able to tour this record across the country if we can put something together that is financially viable and makes sense. I would love to see how people react to these songs in a live setting. We are also looking forward to collaborating with other artists a bit more in the studio, which we’ve already started to do, and hopefully, you’ll hear some of that later this year. Mostly, we’re just looking forward to the next thing, and we’re thankful that making music is something we still get to do.

Black Light Animals’ record release show for Last Call Love Songs is Saturday, March 29, at the Ship with Jass, Seyko, Flare Tha Rebel and more. Details on that show here.

You can pre-order Last Call Love Songs at Bandcamp on limited edition white vinyl or digitally.