Ahead of their self-titled debut album, La Nouvelle Musique have released their transient single ‘Spirit Level’. Aptly translating from French meaning ‘new music’, the London based folk-tronica duo have released their album via Fruits de Mer on 1st August.
‘Spirit Level’ is a single that constantly fluctuates and intertwines between floating vocals (Joanna Beck) and striking electric guitars (Ian de Silva). Refusing to remain stagnant in a set genre, the single dips between the realms of psychedelia and acid folk which their label Fruits de Mer basks in.
The song begins with a hazy sound scape. The listener can’t quite make out whether these are the waves crashing in a distant shore or the buzz of a memory trying to be retrieved. As a sharp whistle weaves through strumming guitar strings, it’s almost as if it’s reaching out from afar. The track is akin to PJ Harvey’s latest album I Inside the Old Year Dying, capturing similarly haunting vocals and core themes of time and the function of nature against the human psyche. Just as the track’s tone sits in a liminal space, the single sonically floats, from soundscapes and more folk iterations to a more spirited surge of electric guitars.
Although Beck confessed to The Strange Brew that “I’m not naturally a lyricist”, the lyrical content of ‘Spirit Level’ is particularly radiant:
‘The spirit level it takes us under
it makes us feel love, a sense of wonder
at the lightning in the evening as we rise, we rise’
Joined in duet with her husband, Ian de Silva, it feels as though we’re intertwined in a dual narrative- two voices reflecting their opposing binaries.
It’s the production, however, which particularly elevates this single for me. As we’re launched into a surge of layered vocals and electric guitars, it serves as a perfect platform for the duo’s self-contained unit. Writing, recording and producing their music at Berwick Street Studios in Soho London- the pair are sharing spaces where Ultravox recorded ‘Vienna’ and The Sex Pistols made their version of ‘My Way’.
La Nouvelle Musique’s self-titled debut album, La Nouvelle Musique was released on vinyl on 30th June via Fruits de Mer, as well as digitally on August 1st.
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