The group accumulate an eclectic mix of styles, layering them together to create an album which exists in a world of its own.
Photo: Katie Silvester | Words: Otis Hayes
The New Eves pull together an uncompromising collection of nine tracks on their debut album, 'The New Eve Is Rising'. Released via Transgressive Records, the long player relishes in the Brighton quartet's ferocious live sound, striking a healthy balance between the unrestrained and unruly and a controlled sense of calm. Throughout its entirety, The New Eves lure you in with introspective songs set against tales of the universe, mountains and volcanoes, all attentively wrapped around what has become the group's signature sound.
Opening with 'The New Eve', cello is gently bowed to establish a dark atmosphere that houses a poem written by Nina Winder-Lind (cello, guitar, vocals) in her family's cabin back home surrounded amongst Swedish mountains. Before long, the rest of the group are joining in, bass guitar pulsating against the drums to pump precious lifeblood into the track while guitar and cello continue to build intense attitude that is forming. The song hurtles towards a disorderly end, jumping and gallivanting with haywire energy. As the band launch into 'Highway Man', a reworking of an Alfred Noyes 1906 narrative poem told from a female perspective, the intensity continues. Drum skins are beaten with a keen urgency, guitars are heavily distorted and cello bellows back and forth across the track. Vocals take on an equally pressing delivery, conveying the sense that a tragedy is taking place and time is of the essence.
Comprised of Violet Farrer (guitar, violin, vocals), Kate Mager (bass, vocals), Ella Oona Russell (drums, flute, vocals) and the aforementioned Winder-Lind, there is an unquestionable spirit that breaks the surface whenever the New Eves bring their artistic minds together. The outfit's live shows have quickly become notorious throughout the UK music scene for being expressive and genuine. Their raw and rugged sound charges around a venue with an untamed force, only to be balanced out by the multiple demeanours amongst the band, who continue to delve further into creating art that is authentic and not afraid of honesty and vulnerability. This effect can perhaps be best heard on 'Cow Song', encompassing the bands live performances via feral feeling howls and shrieks which are unapologetically expressive. The New Eves come together swapping between lead vocals and backup vocals, their differing vocals styles simultaneously progressing the song in different ways, the piece jumping from a tranquil beginning towards a frantic and lively close.
Certain New Eves inspirations feel clear cut: Patti Smith, The Raincoats, The Slits and The Velvet Underground all immediately come to mind. The band do not conceal these references in the shadows of their songs, instead embracing the challenge of evolving the work of their predecessors, adding their own fresh take on the music, like those distinct vocal melodies and a unique mix of practical talent with sincere passion. When speaking about the ethos of the band Winder-Lind expressed; "It's the idea that you can do what you want – you don't have to do things a certain way. When we made this band, we didn't know what to expect. No one gave us permission. You have to do that for yourself."
Closing their debut album with 'Volcano', silky textured flute drifts gently against a backdrop of swaying guitar, the closing track making you feel as though you are standing exposed to the harsh elements of a windy day, somehow holding this innate confidence that you will find your way home safely by nightfall. Once 'Volcano' begins to pick up around the three minute mark, we are slowly led through a frenzy of sound, vocals traded and projected with potent fervour while instruments clash amongst one another like waves against a cliffside. The whole finally gently simmers down with the repeated words "Let it be, set it free". 'The New Eve Is Rising' was written between Brighton and an artistic residency at The Cornish Bank, before being recorded at Rockfield Studios and Bristol's Cotham Parish Church. Unafraid to express themselves in an authentically personal manner, the band establish their own take on an exciting and eclectic mix of musical styles collaged together, all the while holding up a light for others to follow suit.
No comments:
Post a Comment