When Gmail fails you, it fails really hard.
I was going through my Spam folder last night (because you never know– among the poor souls begging me to give them my checking information, there might be some gems), and boy, am I glad I did. An email from one of my favorite bands, Noctura (whose song “Caged” I reviewed here), had released a new EP! Under a new moniker! I quickly flagged the email as NOT SPAM (dammit, Google) and rushed to their website to pick up the new songs.
The Noctura of old was a rock group in the vein of Evanescence and Within Temptation, with vocalist Mandy Suiter’s vocals rising from Kris Haughey and Jeremy Roche’s crunching guitars like a phoenix floating over its own flaming wreckage. That aspect of the music remains, but now Noctura has become Westvale, and they’ve added a bit of electro-pop into the mix!
The EP is unfortunately only four tracks– I’ve already decided they need at least twelve more in order to satisfy my thirst for amazing music featuring female vocalists. (It’s one of those things where most groups meet one qualification or the other, you know?) But those four tracks are fantastic. They’re perfect if you need to get pumped up, to go for a run or beat the shit out of a speed bag. They’re also perfect if you just need to stick the headphones on your head while riding the subway and escape to a surreal, ethereal paradise.
Track by track:
- “Goodbye” is a soaring, thumping track, with lyrics that have the capability to punch you right in the gut. (They did that for me, at any rate.) It’s a track I’ve had on repeat for an hour now and I still feel like I’m discovering new things about it every time it cycles back around. “We were destined from the very start…”
- “Whiteout” has a whole lot of gorgeous imagery in it. Imagine you’re trapped in a swirling snow storm, and the person you love most in the world is there with you… but you can’t reach them. You’re within arm’s length, but they’re so far away. Something is keeping you apart, something’s dragging you back into the snow. “Air’s gone cold, I can’t say your name.” I feel like I could write a whole novel inspired by this song. MAYBE I WILL.
- “Never Enough” is kind of dark and terrifying. Check out this lyric: “I turn the lights off and the world stops.” Dark, terrifying, and pretty fucking sexy. If I was directing this music video, it’d be a pretty typical club-scene, flashing lights, quick cuts, gorgeous women in short skirts leaning against walls. Don’t get me wrong though: typical video, definitely NOT typical song.
- The title track “Fly” does not disappoint, either. But in a metaphysical world where “Never Enough” is the underworld, “Fly” brings us back up above the clouds. If you’ve ever been a bird, or if you’ve ever been in an airplane, you can feel it. You’re soaring, dipping, diving, choosing the perfect thermal to carry you effortlessly across the landscape. Choice lyric: “I can hear the silence screaming louder than my fear to die.”
A+, folks. A-fucking-plus.
Check their new EP out for yourself. I’m already a month late to the train, so you better get on this ASAP!
You can find their new album below and listen for free at most of them (and then purchase the album):
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