6/4/19
7:25 PM
I found Novo Amor by chance while I was travelling in Minnesota.
Reminiscent to be a parallel of Bon Iver’s emotive vocal tones alongside Iron and Wine or Sufjan Stevens’ instrumentation style, Novo Amor draws the listener into the music by crying out to the wilderness and into his past life.
Composed by Welsh musician Ali Lacey— known by his alias, Novo Amor— and his acoustic guitar, among other folk and traditional instruments, Bathing Beach is… quiet. Quiet as the singer wails nostalgia— of the cycle that never ends, the hurt and the embrace of love spoken so quietly, reaching deep. Each song in the four tracks of Bathing Beach represents and builds upon a different face of this unknown life that the author incessantly revisits, created by a haunting thought of a possibility.
The airy and ghosted voice of Novo Amor seems so faint, yet is striking from the first listen. In a way that is difficult to explain in writing, one is aware of the emotions seeping out in their naturality. Within utilizing simple musicality such as dynamics, tonality, and pauses or rests, Lacey demonstrates that indeed sometimes less is greatly more. The simplistic accompaniment gives this short body of work not only cohesion, but something akin to a deconstruction of the author’s perspectives and insights of his past lover and the memories tied to her. All four of the songs are written beautifully and cryptic, establishing an ownership to his personal recollections while the common theme of love and heartaches is empathized upon; behind the tranquilizing sounds of the serene music lies a hurt that Lacey cannot return to or escape from.
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Novo Amor has since released new works such as Heiress and Birthplace, with songs such as “Freehand,” “Anniversary,” and “Repeat Until Death.”
In finding Novo Amor, I’m glad I went to Minnesota.
Listen to the album below: