-=- SHGZ -=-
* Shoegaze * Indie * Post-Rock * Grunge * Dream Pop * Psych-Rock * Ethereal *
Artist..: Novella
Album...: Land
GENRE....: Indie
STYLE....: Shoegaze, Indie Rock
LABEL....: Sinderlyn SCENE.....: 2016-03-05
BITRATE..: 902 kbps avg STORE.....: 2015-00-00
ENCODER..: FLAC 1.2.1 -8 -V TRACKS....: 10
SIZE.....: 278.9MB SOURCE....: CD
URL..: http://www.novellaband.com/
- TRACKLIST
1 Follow 4:46
2 Something Must Change 4:04
3 Sentences 3:46
4 Two Ships 2:47
5 Land Gone 4:54
6 Phrases 3:39
7 Blue Swallows 5:44
8 Younger Than Yesterday 4:07
9 Again, You Try Your Luck 4:20
10 Skies Open 5:05
Total Playtime: 43:12
Notice: Tracks 7 + 8 are not listed in the booklet or on the cover.
The LP version includes tracks 7 + 8 seperately on a bonus 7".
(see 7inch_tracks.jpg)
https://www.discogs.com/Novella-Land/release/7228399
*
According to Primal ScreamÆs Bobby Gillespie, ôNovella [are] psych dream pop
in full overdrive ù sounds like the Passions in a head on collision with Neu!
on an East London autobahn (if such a place exists!)ö
NovellaÆs formation was the result of an instant sparkùguitarist Hollie
Warren, guitarist Sophy Hollington, and bassist Suki Sou met through mutual
friends in Brighton in 2010, where they quickly realized that they shared a
common love for æ60s counterculture and bands like Black Sabbath, the Brian
Jonestown Massacre, and Pale Saints. The addition of drummer Iain Laws in
2011 and keyboardist Isabel Spurgeon in 2014 solidified the group into a
propulsive engine, capable of welding woozy, cosmic psychedelia to sustained
squalls of flanged-out, far-out dream pop. NovellaÆs debut album, Land, is a
controlled blast of mainlined electricity, a tempest of relentless groove and
crystalline vocals that is at once the vicious edge and the calm eye of the
storm.
Recorded during one ice-cold week in January of 2014 by Jonas Verijnen (Moon
Duo, Ballet School) and Joshua Third (The Horrors) in an abandoned clothing
factory-turned-studio in Dalston, East London, Land perfectly absorbs the
bandÆs vast array of influences and transforms them into songs that Fact
Magazine described as ôequal parts effete jangle and ferocious riffage.ö
Combining London gloom and cosmic escapism, Sou and Laws channel Can and the
13th Floor Elevators on the krautrock-inspired jams like ôFollowö and
ôSomething Must Change,ö while Warren and Hollington stomp their homemade
flanger and phaser pedals to create dueling arcs of electric guitars. As the
band churns and riffs, the girlsÆ voices soar brilliantly, their glassy
clarity recalling the Lynchian shoegaze of Lush or Stereolab. During quieter,
more reflective songs like ôSentencesö and ôYounger Than Yesterday,ö there
are echoes of eerie psychedelia like Broadcast, evident in the myriad of
flutes, synths, and Fender Electric XII guitars.
On Land, Novella captures the wild spirit of creating something new from
pieces of the past. They ward off the overcast London melancholy with
evocative tales of weightless meandering, of drifting over the pavement of
familiar streets while dreaming about exploring fantastical alien landscapes.
These are the yarns of twenty-somethings in limbo, a collection of late night
tales that more often end in avoided glances than locked eyes.
*
London-based quintet Novella have been a regular feature on the capital's
live circuit since forming five years ago. Initially conceived as a three
piece, core members Hollie Warren (guitar/vocals), Sophie Holington (guitars)
and Suki Sou (bass) fused krautock sensibilities with Velvet Underground
influenced melodies to great effect. While 2011's 'The Things You Do' hinted
at a wealth of possibilities for the future, their next two releases the
following year and first to feature drummer Iain Laws - May's Novella EP and
November's 'Mary's Gun' - suggested their elevation to the resurgent psych
rock premier league was imminent.
However, it all went a little quiet from hereon in, and although a limited
edition cassette (the Murmurs EP) was issued in October 2013, very little has
been heard from Novella since. Thankfully, it seems that time away from the
public eye has been well spent. Regrouping with new keyboard player Isabel
Spurgeon on board, the band spent the early part of last year recording then
putting the finishing touches together for their long awaited debut. Fast
forward another 12 months and Land is finally here in all its esoteric glory.
Recorded under the combined tutelage of Jonas Verijnen û whose previous
credits include Moon Duo and Ballet School û and The Horrors' Joshua Hayward,
Land ably demonstrates the band's progressive nature across its ten pieces.
Whereas many of their peers have fallen into a trap of regression and
predictability, Novella have clearly grasped the mettle to boldly craft a
record that's both elementary and experimental in format and structure.
While The Horrors connection doesn't end there - the recently added keyboard
player's brother Joe happens to be their drummer - it would be incredulous to
suggest Land is firmly indebted to them or any other band for that matter.
Sure, valid comparisons can be levelled in places. For example, the dense
textures on 'Something Must Change' rival Loop in their Fade Out phase, while
Warren and Hollington's vocal interchanges recall Miki Berenyi and Emma
Anderson of Lush at their most effervescent, particularly on the pensive
'Sentences' and reflective 'Again You Try Your Luck'.
What's most interesting about Land is how Novella's development can be traced
through the inclusion of three tracks from Murmurs. The lead song off that EP
'Blue Swallow' (then titled 'Blue Swallows') takes on an altogether new
persona here. Opening with a fractured drumbeat that echoes the one used by
The Beatles on 'Tomorrow Never Knows', it goes on to encounter a series of
twists and turns over the next five minutes, rendering it Novella's most
ambitious creation to date. Likewise 'Phrases', formerly an instrumental on
the 2013 EP. Mesmeric and dreamy in parts, galloping in others. "I can't do
the things I used to..." declares Warren as poignancy fills the air. Album
opener 'Follow' also gets a makeover here. Tucked away as the third track on
Murmurs a year-and-a-half ago, it finds itself revitalised as the driving
force and guiding light into Land's unchartered waters. Both pulsating in
delivery and haunting in execution, it sets the scene incisively for the rest
of the album.
Of course there will be murmurs (pardon the pun) that Novella may have missed
the boat. That Land's gestation period could have been realised a tad
earlier. But then that could also work in the band's favour, as rather than
get trampled among the umpteen psych rock releases this past year, they've
delivered a record that stands alone and away from the crowd. Only time will
tell what the next instalment holds, but for now Land is a fitting document
for the first chapter of Novella's fascinating evolution.
*
In 2015 there are more bands doing the
dreamy-psychedelic-pop-with-a-side-of-shoegaze thing than there are clouds in
the sky on a rainy spring afternoon. To break free of the pack, a band has to
be either very distinctive or very good. The London-based Novella are both.
While they touch on all the same inspirations and influences as everyone else
-- Flying Nun, '90s bands like Pale Saints, the paisley underground, and, of
course, the great psychedelic groups of the '60s -- they do a couple
important things to differentiate themselves. They have strong female vocals,
not wispy, girly ones. Hollie Warren is a powerful singer and she holds down
the middle like a superhero while the guitars and keys swirl around her like
unfettered electrical storms. Something that has as much going on as "Again,
You Try Your Luck" or "Follow," with waves of sound and intricate guitar
lines, could swamp a lesser singer. Warren sails through with nary a mark. On
the quieter songs, the richness of her singing as it blends with the
harmonies is pretty swoon-worthy. They also wrote a handful of knockout songs
that sound like what the Bangles could have been if they had gotten weird
instead of famous. The insistent "Land Gone" is like an alternate reality
"Hazy Shade of Summer" that features some stellar guitar work and a
bewitching melody; the drifting psych ballad "Blue Swallows" slowly reveals
itself over a blissful six minutes, feeling like a collaboration between the
Rain Parade and Lush. The rest of the album charts a similar course that
balances chewy melodies with knotty layers of guitar and keys, dream-inducing
slow songs, and pulse-quickening hypnotic rockers, ending up with a result
that's very familiar but just a little bit better than most of the
competition. As long as they keep making albums this good, they'll stay a
step or two ahead of everyone.
-=- SHGZ -=-
P.S.
** Thanks ***
*** BCC FNT IPC SSR ***
*** For Knowing Where The Music Is At ***
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* NuHS we miss you! *
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