Belle & The Vertigo Waves return after 5 years. These years haven’t been dormant, mind you. Constantly at work, this group has been churning out several singles leading to this album. Making explosive tracks with a constant flow of energy and organic, raw emotion-they bring to us Lorelai, their latest album.
While Pilot allows for you to be seated in a cushion of ambient sound, the band prepares for the show they’ve curated just for you. Beat Me to the Punch is their single from 2021. A driving riff helps us take flight, and the instrumentals transcend to metal in moments. Belle keeps up with her dynamic vocals, depending on the track and verse, shifting her tone constantly.
Stand Down uses odd-time to dawn upon us some discomfort. The track builds traction almost instantly, Belle treating her vocals as the bullets in the chamber they are. The lyrics are cutting, honest and poetic. The groove is never lost, and the background is ever evolving. Sweet Jane is what can be considered a stadium rock track. Hail Scorpions or Def Leppard, any of these mega rock stars have a track like this. With these kinds of vocals, you’re waiting for the chorus-and that’s where Belle steers you.
Bite the bullet
Fear or Faith uses some decent resonance to multiply a menacing and mysterious vibe. Bringing in the guitar tone of the 80s, it feels like Bon Jovi, but Belle’s melodic vocals rule the soundscape. Hats off to the virtuosos playing the instruments, the tone is never allowed to go monotonous. The Vertigo Waves make the change we want to keep hearing, something new and exciting.
The title track comes next, showing the range and genre bending that Belle & The Vertigo Waves are capable of. With just dissonant piano chords, her vocals create a swirling whirlpool of relaxing sound. It is a build that is consistent, natural and aims to magnetize and unite. There was always possibility for a prog-rock track with these talented musicians, and here we have it.
Until You’re Better is the amalgamation of all the sounds this group loves. It proceeds to be a quiet observation, a critique of sorts. A personality in review, in lieu of you. It is an interesting premise that can turn into a boring trope, but that would be with the written path. Belle & The Vertigo Waves are here to write their own. It proceeds to become a climatic medley that can only be given any justice to by experiencing it.
Echoes in the distortion
Just a Delusion uses a Synyster Gates kind of opening for the guitar riff. It proceeds to be a minimal melody, with her vocals being the gold in the soil. The chorus is as spectacular as you would expect. In this track as well, there is a subtle instrumental build that makes sure the track gets heavier and different from when it started off.
Love in Remission uses a slower build, and that is what is called misdirection. Using a genuine 80s rocker riff to make the Earth shake, this track craps on the standard lines that alpha male rockers used for decades together. Here she uses that interesting background with some self-reflection. Seems that it turns out and creates very interesting and catchy music. Nothing to Protect is far mellower than any other track they’ve recorded. Each riff and section is much more melodically dependent, and isn’t riff based rock. This creates a textural masterpiece that is very different in its nature.
The birth of passion
Closing with Partings, this group blends into oblivion, the same way they came into my life. I had never heard of them, and never would have with my general mixes of music. That would have been a tragedy. Belle & The Vertigo Waves are the shock rock element that needed to be reintroduced in the indie scene. I’m not taking digs at Iron & Wine, but yes, sometimes life is dull. Doesn’t hurt to make an upbeat track about it, with instrumentals tearing the mask off reality.
The truth of it is, I’m excited about this group. Like Lorelei, the fair maiden that was turned into a siren to haunt the ships that passed the moors, this band too lures you in. Before you know it, it’s too late. You’re too big of a fan to let go.
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Discovered via http://musosoup.com
Self professed metalhead, moderately well read. If the music has soul, it's whole to me. The fact that my bio could have ended on a rhyme and doesn't should tell you a lot about my personality.
