"Never Better" marks Night Teacher's emergence into both musical and personal rejuvenation. Fronted by the captivating voice and vision of Lilly Bechtel, the track comes off her upcoming album "Year of the Snake," due for release by October 31 on First City Artists.
"Never Better" is crackling with energy from the start, a rare blend of rawness and refinement. It's unapologetically pop at the center, but dives into a soundscape that feels textural and off-kilter, pleasing in its refusal to settle for anything wholly expected. The production, co-authored with Matt Wyatt, embodies a delicate balance of grit and grace itself, a tug-of-war that can be read as a metaphor, given the song's subject matter. Every beat feels purposeful, every layer necessary, and you are drawn into Night Teacher's unfolding construction.
Bechtel's aesthetic is one of contrasts. She's a singer-songwriter and also a trauma-informed instructor of yoga, breathwork, meditation, collage, and poetry. That multidimensionality bleeds into her music, and "Never Better" is a meditation on shedding old skins to arrive at growth, as nods to the symbolism of the album's title, culled from the "Year of the Snake" in the Chinese Zodiac, underscore. The song is a testament to that unyielding quality of resilience and rebirth, as it insists that transformation, rather than a neat and tidy process, is the very pulse of becoming.
"Never Better" also showcases Night Teacher asserting its own identity, one informed by a willingness to try anything and an insistence on emotional authenticity. "Never Better" is a first look at what a year of embracing her own dark side has done for Bechtel, and it's an excellent start for the "Year of the Snake." With this release emerges an invitation for Night Teacher, a portal into change, the embrace of the unknown, and the beautiful process of becoming.
Reviewed by LyricalOdyssey Music
on
August 26, 2025
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