Night Teacher's "Never Better" turns transformation into a hypnotic anthem of resilience

The penultimate single, "Never Better," is a powerful statement that healing doesn't always come in a straight line and often doesn't. Fronted by singer-songwriter Lilly Bechtel, this lead single off their full-length album 'Year of the Snake' due out on October through First City Artists, Conor immediately pulls you into a symphonic world that is gritty, high-energy, and oddly reassuring.

A trauma-informed yoga instructor for 15 years and counting, Bechtel shapes her insights into human flourishing and her experience with trauma into a musical world as off-kilter as it is magnetic. The song moves out with a hypnotic energy, each beat and lyric landing with a closeness that evokes a whispered confidence shared in a hushed room. Teaming up with producer Matt Wyatt, Bechtel hones a sound that's an homage to indie's maestros, including Margaret Glaspy, Thom Yorke, and Cate Le Bon, but is still very much all her own.

"Never Better" driving rhythm and layered instrumentation reflect the transformative journey at the core of Year of the Snake, an album that drew streams from 2025's Chinese Zodiac, the year of shedding skins and ushering in a whole new vibe. It is a song that not only describes healing, but also feels like healing; its motion is graceful in both mortal and universal senses.

"Never Better" comes across as a meditation on resilience and transformation. Its lyrics imply struggle without requiring explanation, leaving room for reflection and connection. The title itself is an ironic, optimistic acceptance that life's ups and downs are in the mix: pain can be a message, Bechtel explains very clearly, if you care to listen. On "Never Better," Night Teacher demonstrates that indie music can be both raw and tender simultaneously, and reminds us that resilience is messy, beautiful, and always worth listening to.

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