Night People is the fifth studio album by English rock band You Me at Six. Following an 18-month touring cycle for Cavalier Youth, the group took a break. In the autumn, the group worked on new music at drummer Dan Flint's house, and subsequently tracked demos with Ross Orton. Reconvening in January 2016, the group were in discussions with several different producers before being approached by Jacquire King. The group then went to Nashville, Tennessee to record their new album with King in February. Majority of the album was recorded live-in-the-studio, an approach the group hadn't attempted before. The group returned home to write more material before returning to the studio. Recording subsequently wrapped up in June. Night People was announced in August, followed by the single release of the title-track.

Preceded by the single release of "Plus One", the group went on a UK tour in October. In November, the group released two singles ("Give" and "Swear") before embarking on a European tour. Before the end of the year, "Heavy Soul" was released as a single. Night People released on 6 January 2017 through Infectious Music. It charted at number 3 in the UK, as well as charting in Australia, Belgium and New Zealand. Eight of its ten tracks charted on the UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart. Following its release, "Take on the World" was released as a single in March, and the group went on a tour of the UK. Over the summer, the group went on a tour of the US, performed at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend, the Reading and Leeds Festivals and Sundown festival.

Background You Me at Six released their fourth studio album Cavalier Youth in January 2014. The group supported it with an 18-month long touring cycle, which included the band's first arena tour, and ended with an appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival in June 2015. Following this, the band's social media accounts went inactive.McMahon ed. 2016, p. 14 After the preceding ten years of constant touring, the band members went on a break, which vocalist Josh Franceschi considered to be "necessary to appreciate the things we had, to get off the ride for a little bit." During the break, the band members refrained from listening to the radio or rock albums, instead consuming hip hop, UK grime, soul and funk music.

In an interview with Kerrang! in May 2015, guitarist Max Helyer revealed that the band would be meeting up in the summer to work on new ideas.Kerrang! 2015, event occurs at 3:13–15 Franceschi said that due to the touring schedule for Cavalier Youth they did not write any new material between 2013 and 2015. Around this time, drummer Dan Flint said the band were intending to release their next album with Korda Marshall and his label Infectious Music. In the autumn, the band built a personal studio at Flint's house, which would allow them to work whenever they wished. The band visited Flint's studio as often as three or four times a week to write new material; the group ended up writing 50–60 new songs. Following demoing sessions in Sheffield with Ross Orton, the vision for the group's next album began to form,McMahon ed. 2016, p. 19 as Franceschi explains: "Out of that process we knew that we were necessarily going down the right route—musically, mentally, everything."

Production You Me at Six reconvened in January 2016 with no immediate plans to record a new album, nor any idea of who might produce it. After having discussions with several different producers, the group were approached by Jacquire King in early February. King offered the band the chance to record in Nashville, Tennessee, and "literally three days later", according to Franceschi, the band boarded a plane to Nashville.Brannigan 2016, p. 34 The group was so eager to record that they flew before their management had been able to figure out accommodation in the city. In the past, the group had "screaming matches with some of our producers", according to Franceschi; to avoid stressing out King or themselves, the band's management recommended they took a meditation class prior to recording. Recording for Night People took place at Black Bird Studios with King producing the sessions.

The group entered the studio with six to eight songs,McLaughlin 2016, p. 73 and planned to record for three weeks. King wanted to record a rock album with the band, something he had not done since Kings of Leon's Only by the Night in 2008. According to Franceschi, King's "attitude was very much, ‘I can’t have you make a record with me unless it’s your best record, and I want it to be the best rock record I’ve made.’" The group had wanted to work with King for Cavalier Youth but they "didn’t think he’d even return our phone call." King asked the group if they had recorded live-in-the-studio before, to which they replied they hadn't. After attempting it, King was instantly impressed with how well the group worked as a cohesive unit: "I've not seen a band play like that in a long, long fucking time. I can tell you guys know each inside out."McMahon ed. 2016, p. 20

They recorded the songs one-by-one instead of layering instruments, which Flint said aided in their creativity. After finishing eight songs, they went home to write more material, before returning to Black Bird in June. They completed four more tracks, and then recorded overdubs. Working in Nashville, the band were "so focused and determined at the same [time]", according to Franceschi.McMahon ed. 2017, p. 45 He added that the process was different from when they recorded Sinners Never Sleep (2011) and Cavalier Youth "in California, where we were socializing and partying ... We put a lot of time, a lot of dedication into [Night People]". Flint used a variety of drum kits as the studio had a room full of equipment. Franceschi later said the band felt complacent when trying to be creative and self-motivating, in addition to being around people that were not stimulating the band creatively. On one occasion, Franceschi found himself emailing his lyrics to four-to-five for approval. Andrew Scheps mixed the recordings, while Eric Boulanger mastered them.

Composition All of the songs on the album, apart from "Plus One", "Take on the World" and "Can't Hold Back", were written by the band. "Plus One" and "Can't Hold Back" were written by the band and former Longpigs frontman Crispin Hunt, while "Take on the World" was written by the band and Iain Archer. Franceschi wrote all of the songs' lyrics, and attempted to give them "its own character, its own sort of perspective." Discussing the album's title, Franceschi explained: "Most bands have a kinda 4pm to 4am existence, ... so it seemed like an appropriate title for a rock record." The album's sound has been described as pop rock, alternative rock, and hard rock. Rock groups such as Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Who, Muse, the Strokes and the Killers have been cited as influencing Night People.McMahon ed. 2016, p. 18 Six months after the album's releases, Franceschi counted that they were "focused so much on trying to make a body of work and trying to get them to work together that we might have overlooked if they were standout songs on their own".

The blues rock title-track "Night People" was one of the first songs the group wrote for the record.McMahon ed. 2016, p. 17 Flint worked on the song by using Pro-Tools; he attempted to make a rock song with influence from hip hop. With the idea of playing it in a live setting, he wanted to find a way where his drums would build upon the patterns he came up with. "Plus One" was written while Franceschi was playing an acoustic guitar during the group's first recording session at Black Bird Studios. The group worked on it as a full-band song at Flint's home studio. Franceschi described the song's lyrics as being about the "pursuit of someone you've wanted for a long time." The song is a grunge track that opens with a feedback introduction, and was compared to Nirvana. "Heavy Soul" was put together during a rehearsal which Franceschi could not attend due to being ill. Flint sent a demo of the song to Franceschi, who exclaimed, "Fucking hell, lads, this is good!" Its chorus section recalled the Foo Fighters; Franceschi said the song's lyrics talk about the "heartbreak when you’re no longer in love with the idea of being a musician and what that might mean."McMahon ed. 2016, p. 16 "Take on the World" is a Snow Patrol and Coldplay-esque ballad that the band knew would be a "big anthem."

"Brand New" came about from Helyer when he was playing a guitar part during band practice. He said he wrote the pre-chorus and chorus sections after listening to Bruce Springsteen and the Who. The song's lyrics were partially written on behalf of people in Franceschi's life and talks about "not letting the past dictate your future." The track takes influence from shoegaze and 1980s synth-pop. "Swear" was the first song written for the album, shortly after the group's performance at the Isle of Wight Festival.Rock Sound 2017, event occurs at 0:28–34, 0:39–44 With it, the group wanted a song that was reminiscent of "Loverboy" in the bass and drums, as well as being "more in line with what we are listening to now", according to Helyer.Helyer 2017, p. 16 The song initially started out as a verse and evolved into a fully finished song in an hour; it was reminiscent of the work of Royal Blood. According to Franceschi, the group wanted the bassline to "almost be offensive, and make people feel like they're being attacked." The song's lyrics are partially "where you’re pursuing someone not necessarily for a confrontation, but for an answer, or an apology, perhaps", according to Franceschi. Franceschi wanted the lyrics to complement the "intensity of the music."

Franceschi considered the middle eight of "Make Your Move" to be the "heaviest piece of music" on the album, "almost flirt[ing] with a Limp Bizkit kind of vibe." While working in Flint's studio, Franceschi tracked a demo of "Can't Hold Back" consisting solely of a guitar riff and a middle eight. The group later altered the structure of the song, according to Franceschi "a hundred times" and almost abandoned it. The lyrics to it were influenced by the Arctic Monkeys' "Fake Tales of San Francisco". Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner has "always been really good in setting scenes with his lyrics, and I was kinda trying to do something similar here", according to Franceschi. With "Spell It Out", Franceschi attempted to write a song that could "almost fit as a sync to a movie trailer or some Game Of Thrones battle scene." While performing at an Australian festival, Franceschi spotted Sticky Fingers, who have "one song that had a slow tempo but was really euphoric", which inspired Franceschi to write "Give". Franceschi would frequently play the guitar riff to it during rehearsals. Within an hour, the group had the finished song.Rock Sound 2017, event occurs at 5:14–26 Heyler said that when the group heard Franceschi's melody for the chorus, "we all knew that it was a special song straight away."Rock Sound 2017, event occurs at 5:50–56

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