When typing to Novella in 2012, vocalist / guitarist Hollie Warren said: "The new songs are a bit different, and it will be interesting to see
what people think." Well it's been three years and Novella (now
a quintet with Isabel Spurgeon joining on
keys,) built on their established shoegaze sound (Mary's Gun / Don't Believe Ayn Rand / The Things You Do) with what can only be described as a
second coming. Like a stoner telling you there's more to the class of 94' than
"Love Spreads", Novella's developed sound encompasses much
of 70s past, but takes more coherently from today's experimentalists.
VISION FORTUNE's Country
Music is
the front-runner of 2015 albums, and it's their chaotic soundscape
mashed with Can's.. well.. genius, creating the backdrop to Novella's
additional touches on"Land Gone".
Drummer Iain
Laws' role has been second to guitars and bass over the Novella years, but
here, Laws really takes control, dominating aesthetically as preceptor Klaus
Dinger would. There's no motorik, but "Land Gone" is as krautrock
influenced as modern shoegaze can be - second only to "Follow" taken from
their 2013 EP Murmurs (which is motorik driven.) This is clean for
Novella standards, stripping away some of that distortion from a not so distant past, and still managing to create a whirlpool of instrumentation from
the guitar battling between lead Sophy Hollington, and rhythm Hollie
Warren - kept loud and in the driving seat by bassist Suzi Sou.
"Land
Gone" introduces old Novella listeners to a highly structured and
melodic representation of 60s psych, combined with kruatrock and all its accomplices.
They're no longer new kids on the block, and this track really does suggest
their maturity as an artist - moving forward with a little help from flanger,
reverb, and phaser. Land is an anticipated album, hell,
it's been highly anticipated here since 2012, and "Land Gone" is an
indication that it's worth the wait. Novella's debut Land will be released May 12 on
Sinderlyn via Captured Tracks.
~Eddie Gibson
