This is a review of "Stay Safe Tonight" recorded by Nikoli. The review was written by Ben Daure in 2005.

“Is there an album and where can I get it?” These will be the first words out of your mouth after listening to just 30 seconds of “Stay Safe Tonight” by Nikoli.

Their sensual guitar melodies combined with the piano's unmistakable assonance just hit the nail on the head when it comes to this CD. Containing aspects of the mellower early Radiohead, as well as a touch of iLiKETRAiNS (but a bit more upbeat), Nikoli have a top notch EP in their hands. It’s actually quite hard to understand why these songs are just being listened to on a stereo and not with thousands of other people at the world's greatest arenas.

“Gently Talk Me Down” – Starts with a very soft heartening tune which proceeds throughout the track really giving you the firm ground for the song. What is great about this particular track is how the piano takes over from the guitar in the verses, and the delicacy in which it is played leaves you feeling nothing but complete musical satisfaction and soothed from inside out.

“Locked out” – You're floating through space. Completely alone, you can only see the stars. That’s what this track makes you feel in my opinion, although it is a bit more “bare boned” than “Gently Talk Me Down” it still contains a soothing acoustic tone that leaves you lost for words. The gentle tapping of the tambourine combined with the faint sound of the piano really lifts the song by the end giving you perfect completion to a wonderful track.

“Always” – In comparison to the other 2 tracks “Always” is much heavier. There are no acoustics on this song and the vocals are a lot more pronounced. I wouldn’t say that it was the best track on this EP simply because it doesn’t have the same effect as the first 2 tracks. “Always” seems like a bit more of a “get up and go” tune instead of a “be absorbed by the music” one. Still I do like the bridge where it all goes very quiet, re-introducing the soft piano and hearing it take form once again... very effective.