Novo Amor - Cannot Be, Whatsoever (November 6, 2020) Album • Page 2

Only about a week left homies. Hoping my vinyl miraculously ships early though

 

It's felt like an eternity.

 

need a distraction and just occurred to me that it's release day! think i'm gonna put this on while i wait for some more ballots to come in

 

no. fucking. plans. holy shit

 

This was good! Birthplace as a record is much more my thing front to back, but this also has a lot of that energy while succeeding in being way more varied. I do wish the drums were a little punchier, particularly on the "bigger" songs -- something about the production felt really thin to me and I think it was that. Or maybe it just a lack of a low end presence in general. No Plans and If We're Being Honest were probably my favorites but there's a lot to really like here

 

HOLY SHIT YOU WERENT KIDDING ABOUT NO PLANS

a legit banger

 

fuck

 

Think I already enjoy this more than Birthplace already. Similar to Ruston Kelly’s Shape and Destroy, it takes “emo” sensibilities and throws it into a genre you wouldn’t expect. Loving this so far, not a dud in here. He’s not BI-lite anymore, this release is much more of a unique sound

 

But wtf why wasn’t If Were Being Honest the closer

 

This is so great

 

OMFG @ No Plans

 

I would never insult his art by using terms like "BI-lite" but this is still wildly influenced by and similar to BI. At least to my ears! Which of course is not a bad thing. Just saying..

I mean.. "Statue Of A Woman" is basically "Libson, OH" with a different title haha.

I LOVE this album though. Definitely already my favorite of his. and by the far the least same-y sounding.

 

Absolutely, definitely influenced but it’s much more his own lane than Birthplace! Really loving this album so far. Much rockier, within this space

 

Man this is so great. Think my favorite track is actually “I Feel Better”

 

*whispers* I acknowledge how influenced he is by Justin Vernon, but I think Novo Amor executes on that sounds as well if not better than BI. He’s a standalone great songwriter in his own right

 

Novo Amor > Bon Iver is a scolding hot take but I know there’s others that agree. I respect it!

I know many people who fell off of BI after they moved away from the BIBI/sophomore record sound. This band is keeping that sound alive and knocking it out of the park time after time. And seeing as BIBI is my favorite album of all time I speak Novo Amor’s praises whenever I can.

like I said above.. I hate to insult anyone’s art by calling them anything like “[insert band here]-lite“ and it’s really on brand for me to shill for Bon Iver and it gets embarrassing sometimes lmao.. so I digress.

Novo definitely stands on their own as a VERY good and important band. It’s a damn shame I haven’t seen them live and might never seen them live. There’s unfortunately hardy any content online to satisfy that need.

 

There’s this awesome little sub genre of bombastic indie folk and this band leads the charge. Ed Tullet/Hailaker/Vancouver Sleep Clinic/etc

I still think my favorite Novo song is Calvary which is from the collaborative album with Ed Tullet. That’s probably going to change though as I can’t stop replaying I Feel Better, Opaline, And No Plans

 

becoming my favorite "genre" - both Hailaker albums are stunning.

this album is everything I needed and wanted + more. gutted we won't see these in a live setting anytime soon.

 

halloween is still song of the year

 

Hard back on @zmtr's thoughts, I don’t remember if it was the last Novo thread or a different one entirely, but I was kinda saying a couple years ago that even if this project could be considered BI-lite, it’d be a welcome presence. Ali picked up Justin’s torch and it’s really cool that we now simultaneously get records that show us the likely future of the classic Bon Iver we all fell in love with and the Bon Iver we currently love to see tackle different sonic landscapes

 

My only complaint so far is that it feels so short.

 

Great point about the divergent nature of BI’s sound and how Ali is carrying that specific torch forward. That sound was so incredibly influential, that I’m happy Ali is not only doing well in that space, but also making it his own. Still waiting on the major artists to take influence from 22AM though lol

 

If We’re Being Honest and No Plans are standouts to me imo, just absolute victory laps

 

instantly my favourite NA album