Tag: Velah

Velah
Knotted / Glass Heart (Acoustic)
2013

Velah continue to find the perfect balance between atmosphere and immediacy on their latest single. “Knotted” opens with a slightly off-kilter, circular guitar riff that would have been at home on Amnesiac. This entrancing guitar line is offset by Nick Murphy’s measured vocal. His voice is a calming force amid the complex rhythm patterns. “Knotted” is a Velah song, so we’re soon awash in haunting backing vocals, swells of saturation and layers of delay. I wouldn’t want it any other way.

“Knotted” is backed by an acoustic version of “Glass Heart” from the bands Black Olympia EP.

Where to get it:

• Bandcamp

Velah
Black Olympia
2012

When I caught Velah at TT’s last month, I was impressed with how well-formed the young band’s sound was. I knew their lineage. I appreciate the work the band’s members did in Static Of The Gods and The Acre. I had high hopes. I also know a band’s early work can be a bit disjointed as they find their legs. Black Olympia flies that notion out the window on a breeze of shimmering guitars.

“Wanderlust” opens this EP with an elevated level of urgency. The immediacy of the song defies the shoegaze tag that is often placed on the band. We’re introduced to the vocal interplay, intertwining guitar parts and clockwork drumming that will define these recordings. Each song steps out from there. The chorus to “Calm Down” is pure pop. The EP’s title track is majestic. “Glass Heart” threatens to drown in its own delay-soaked layers before breaking the surface in a triumphant crescendo. It all works. Let’s see where Velah goes next.

Where to get it:

• Bandcamp