After releasing their debut single 'The Things You Do' on Dirty Bingo Records in 2011, Novella began
planning their debut EP. The all-female trio were formed in Brighton, later
moving to London, where many of their live performances have taken place (with
a drummer). They draw modest audiences to gaze upon their dreamy sets such as
the recent Camden Crawl in London, support slots with Unknown Mortal Orchestra
at XOYO,
Veronica Falls, Dum Dum Girls and a slot at this year’s Great Escape Festival
in hometown Brighton. Their self-titled EP will be released later this month
(May 28th on Italian Beach Babes), upon which they'll be swiftly moving forward
and further towards that lucrative and imperceivable record deal with 4AD.
Like fellow 2012 breakthrough act Trailer Trash
Tracy's, Novella take 80's/90's alternative rock citation on their music. Galaxie 500,
Spacemen 3,
Guided By Voices, My Bloody
Valentine and the 4AD phenomenon’s all come through when listening to
Novella, and their influences are clearly notified. The simplistic guitar
structure comes across sweetly with the funky bass and the well recorded drums,
with Broadcast-esque
low fidelity and vocals. The verse isn’t spectacular in the slightest, with
very chaotic progressions and repetitive riffs, however the chorus changes
everything. The track takes a major turn and disintegrates into the late 80's
dream pop sound; I'm hearing Slowdive
and Cranes.
And what a magnificent sound this is, It's truly stunning and deserves its
weight in acclaim. Child-like eerie vocals enter, "you are not alone
now..." / "Ayn Rand, she's lost control." The
chaos and sheer power of the course somehow shapes the following verse into
something melancholy, something understandable and clear, even if the tempo proves
differently. The 20 second guitar solo doesn’t drive the song forward or take
centre stage, it simply adds to the shoegazing sound and acts as the final
verse before the explosive layers and heavy drumming takes shape for the final
coup de gras. It would be unfair for me to talk about the lyrical content
without reading the lyrics sheet, because like many releases in this field, the
vocals are very hard to interpret, however I want to because with a title like
'Don't Believe Ayn Rand ', questions are going to be asked. Nonetheless,
fantastic track and undeniably one of the freshest tracks I've heard so far this
year. Time will only tell, but as for now... Novella is an artist to be
watched.
~Eddie
