Bathing Beach EP. Novo Amor

On the cover of this EP there are some blurred lines between earth and sky. Like the aura of the forest can be seen in the sky. A hazy shade in the sky before clouds can be seen and finally the sky turns blue as it should.

As unclear as the cover art is, so dreamy is the music of Novo Amor. The kind of music that is a part of 10s music. Part folk, part dreampop and part singer-songwriter, with a male high voice and sounds that are all over the mix.

Novo Amor, which means exactly what I thought it would, albeit in Portuguese, is a one man band from Wales. Ali John Meredith-Lacey releases songs under this name since 2012. This is the second EP on route to the debut album in 2018. Is it something to be on the look out for?

After some careful deliberations following several listen sessions I tend towards yes. The reason being that Novo Amor manages to present the world a fairytale reality in his music. An atmosphere too good to be true and probably is. Its music is not of the earth, but sails over the treetops, part of the air, where it mixes with that aura, and is taken where wind and turbulences take it.

The voice is so light and high. It floats over the music. With it comes a form of music that is almost ethereal. Music that I've heard before from several other artists. And somehow they all do not matter when I'm listening to Novo Amor. Meredith-Lacey creates his own universe, especially for you it seems.

There's absolutely no need to pick out one of the songs. I would tell you about the meandering violins or sparse guitar notes, the long, drawn-out sounds, the spaces between the music or how it is filled by strings or something darker. In the end these would be words are inconsequential. Either you believe in fairytales or you don't. Usually I don't, in fact I tend to think of them as pretty horrendous in hindsight. I did not see the endless cruelty when young, just the tension and the adventure. For the fairytale called Bathing Beach I may just make an exception.

Does the world another new folklike album? It just might. We'll all know more next year. For 2017 Novo Amor gets the benefit of the doubt and a little more to go.

Wo.

You can listen to 'Carry You' here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utj0BFuv1-Q