The project of multi-instrumentalist David Hartley, Nightlands dwells somewhere near the crossroads of dreamy psych-pop, soft rock, and prog rock while revealing a love of experimentation inspired by growing up with a genetic engineer father. A distinctive element of the project's sound is processed vocals by which the singer sometimes adopts the sentimental persona of the "silver man." Hartley is also the bassist for the War on Drugs. He had already been with the band for around five years when his Nightlands debut, Forget the Mantra, appeared on Secretly Canadian in 2010. Some of his War on Drugs bandmates were among the guests on subsequent releases, including 2013's Oak Island and 2022's Moonshine, Nightlands' fourth album.

Then based in Philadelphia, Hartley began working on his own music in earnest when the War on Drugs album Slave Ambient was taking longer than expected to complete. His first Nightlands album, Forget the Mantra, arrived on Secretly Canadian in late 2010. Though his duties with the War on Drugs -- who released Slave Ambient on the same label in mid-2011 -- kept him busy for much of the following year, he also issued the All the Way and Covers EPs, the latter of which included a gorgeously hazy version of Lindsey Buckingham's "Trouble." In January 2013, Hartley delivered his second Nightlands album, the emotionally nostalgic Oak Island. It featured contributions from the likes of Heather Woods Broderick, harpist Mary Lattimore, and Nick Krill (Teen Men) in addition to members of the War on Drugs including Adam Granduciel (on guitar) and Robbie Bennett (Arp Omni, Juno, keyboards).

The War on Drugs had a critical and commercial breakthrough in 2014 with Lost in the Dream and signed with Atlantic Records. Hartley didn't abandon Nightlands, however, releasing the project's third LP, a set of spacy love songs called I Can Feel the Night Around Me, on Western Vinyl in May 2017. It was recorded mostly alone in a basement rehearsal/storage space formerly used by his band.

Hartley became a father and relocated to Asheville, North Carolina, before recording Nightlands' next long-player, July 2022's Moonshine. It featured a number of remote collaborators, including four of his War on Drugs bandmates, Frank LoCrasto (Cass McCombs, Fruit Bats), and producer Adam McDaniel (Angel Olsen, Hurray for the Riff Raff). ~ Marcy Donelson & Heather Phares, Rovi