Nova Twins
Parasites & Butterflies
**and1/2 out of *****
The Nova Twins newest album Parasites and Butterflies continues the duo's sound expansion as Amy Love and Georgia South lean into their more hip-hop/pop flavored influences throughout their third record. Their heavier vibes take a noticeable backseat to more modern pop sounds and styles.
The London based duo decamped to Vermont to record the album with Rich Costey (Linkin Park, Fiona Apple) and the relaxed environment inspired them. The duo's nu-metal influences have receded and a stylistic/modern rhythmic foundation has taken root. Both Love (vocals, background vocals, guitar, production, drums) and South (bass, drums, production, background vocals) do the majority of the playing here which focuses on more polished sheen.
All of the songs presented here are short and designed for commercial release as opener "Glory" is a warbling EDM number that brings in gospel like backing vocals that soar. The industrial influences seep into a few numbers as the slow grinding "Piranha" and the shifting "Hide & Seek" clank and bang, but still give easy passages and space for vocals to climb high.
Nova Twins focus heavily on their singing throughout Parasites & Butterflies succeeding in expanding their sound and vocal style. Love goes falsetto effortlessly on a few efforts, noticeably on the swirling "Hummingbird" which gets theatrically large, ready for Broadway. Lyrically things are a mixed bag, the groups ode to being black women in a male dominated industry "N.O.V.A" results in the best song on the record while the more pop/inner looking "Monsters" is repetitive and not very illuminating.
The group brings in a distinctly hip hop feel for a few numbers as both "Soprano" and the skittering "Drip" work well and when the band plays with percussion more interesting results bubble up. The galloping "Hurricane" and "Parallel Universe" keep things bumping in unique fashion. "Sandman" is a tripped out pop number with two short metal breakdowns, while closer "Black Roses" is the heaviest of the bunch, but the band really keeps their headbanging ways in check for this album.
What made 2022's Supernova such an eye opener (and one of our favorites of the year) was the duo's mixing of nu-metal into their influences, rocking out with joy and powerful abandon. Nova Twins are spreading their wings wider, bringing in more diverse sounds and styles with varying success while moving more into the mainstream with Parasites & Butterflies.
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