Discovery: Novelle - Sparks

Novelle are Austin Fitzpatrick and Kyle Harward of Southern California. Together they create noise rock / punk rock with hip-hop influences. It's like a Fuck Buttons / Death From Above 1979 hybrid, but with accents you wouldn't expect. They play for loudness, and that’s what comes across when listening to their music - but it's energising and smooth rather than overpowering, something which is both interesting and unique when genre clashing.

You can hear the mix of genres in the above track "Sparks", taken from a bunch of demo recordings Novelle uploaded to Soundcloud. There's sweet tones of emotion airlifted from the vocals, reaching out to a loved one: "And I love you," the lyrics leap forward with reverb and layers to create a stadium effect, where the vocals are being echoed back, just as the protagonist desires. It's capped off by a 30 second beat driven closer, in unison with "Sparks", but separate musically through the pounding bass.
~Eddie Gibson