If Violet Nox’s new two-track EP is anything to go by, the band is only getting stronger and more cosmic with each passing release.
Opening Twin Flame is the enigmatic “Swan Pond,” which immediately grabs you and thrusts your mind onto a vibrant and surreal sonic journey. The song begins with a subtle electronic pulse, ticking out the very bones of the rhythm, as reverb drenched fuzz guitars rev up like rusty old engines. Next, the fuzzed-up guitars spread out into moody repetitive notes, echoing to and fro, as hazy keyboards and Karen Zanes’ ethereal, glassy vocals emerge. From here, chimes and a swirling miasma of manipulated electronic sounds and effects twist the song into an uncanny psychedelic maelstrom. It’s a track that certainly pulls the listener into the Violet Nox world and holds them there for an untold amount of time.
Following this is “AxA,” which leans heavier into Violet Nox’s electronic side. Throughout the track’s entire eight minutes, rapid and repetitive danceable electro-beats thump like a racing heartbeat while effects-soaked guitars melt into a wall of acidic sound. The best part of the track for me is towards the six-minute mark, where bells and chimes signal for the mood to shift, and then every instrument begins to meld together into a dreamy pool of blended sounds. The piece sways and eventually fizzles into a fading hum, as if the very song itself has drifted far away into space.
Lastly, a surprisingly varied and multifaceted remix of “Lamb on The Moon,” from the band’s 2017 Nebula EP, brings the release to a satisfying close. Miss Geo does a fine job here pulling the song into full electronica-mode, making it sound as though it was born to be in her very capable hands.
Electro-psychedelia is alive and well with the likes of Violet Nox. If this is a style that you dig, then you must dig into Twin Flame as soon as you can.
-KH
Record Crates United 