Aria Novos - Diamond Light Review

Aria Novos are a four-piece band from Tampa, Florida. They are an indie rock/pop band featuring dual vocalists, one male and one female. The band consists of co-lead vocalist and guitarist Gerard Sison, co-lead vocalist and keyboardist Audrey Sinead, guitarist Andy Maroney, and Alex Schumacher behind the drums. Aria Novos released a six song EP over the summer titled Diamond Light, which so happens to be a themed/concept album (whichever you prefer). The album's theme is revolves around a sudden loss of a loved one and coming to grips with life, while also searching for who they truly are as a person, a new love and a new beginning.

How is it?

Diamond Light is a pleasant surprise. it has a rather dark tone throughout the record with some beautiful emerging from the darkness here and there. Opening track ''Via Qualia'' starts off slow as Sison sings calmly in the first verse and meets up with Sinead in the slightly picked up chorus. The stellar vocals of Audrey Sinead take over the next verse and right off the bat you can tell the two co-lead vocalists have great chemistry. ''Through the Discord'' is seemingly about dealing with the lossed loved one and losing yourself in the process from the devastating loss. The song has a resemblance to Arkansas piano-based indie rock band Deas Vail, with it's haunting chorus as the duo sing ''I lost you through the discord with no self to come home to.'' It is one of Diamond Light's most impressive tracks, providing the listener with eerieness and beauty.

Gerard Sison's shows off more than just calm vocal work in ''What Became of Us,'' a song that begins with symbol crashes leading into an upbeat tone as the two vocalists trade off singing duties. Sinead displays soothing ''oohs''in the song and it is also the EP's most lively song.

By far the most impressive track on Diamond Light, though, has to be ''Telematics.'' The song is just a few seconds over six minutes long, but does not drag on at all. Sinead's strongest work is also featured on this track as she takes the lead on the track. ''Welcome Stranger'' is the climax of Diamond Light. It's a slow strumming acoustic song with nice keys work by Sinead. Sison and Sinead go back and forth in the final song, Sison's calm and somber vocals blend in perfectly with Sinead's soothing, angelic vocals. The dreamy song doesn't disappoint and makes a strong closer for the EP....full text I found myself up late at night (undoubtedly the result of a caffeinated beverage I imbibed earlier that day) wandering the soon to be defunct social networking wasteland known as MySpace, searching for music out of sheer boredom and drug induced curiosity. I was mostly searching through the profiles of bands I already currently listen to when I stumbled upon this interesting four piece out of Tampa Bay, “Aria Novos”. So, I gave them a listen and about two days later I bought their EP on !Tunes.

I know what you are thinking, enough exposition right? Let’s get down to the details, how do they sound? Think Indie infused with some New Wave, Dream Pop and Ambient for good measure. The guitars are airy and distorted, pulling the listener into ethereal soundscapes, hearkening back to the days when shoegaze was in its infancy. The drums are played well enough, catchy and at times minimal giving more of a supporting role rather than trying to stand out or over power the other instruments. The keyboard helps to bolster the beautiful and at times haunting atmosphere. Other than the guitars nothing really attempts to stand out which is the intention of the band, the music is supposed to feel like it is all working together as some sort of organic whole . The vocals would have to be Aria Novos’ biggest selling point, Audrey and Gerard catapult these songs into the stratosphere, and the dual vocals are just mesmerizing.

“Diamond Light” is the bands first EP and it is a concept album in that to fully enjoy the album you have to listen to it all at one time, and at a breezy 26 minutes the time seems to melt away. The album is tied around the central theme of a romantic relationship. We the listeners are there witnessing the cycle of a relationship. The album starts off with the awkward and sometimes uncertain inception of romance to the breakdown of communication between two people and finally the reminiscing and longing for the past. Other themes that pop up often are faith, uncertainty, angst hope and despair for the most part the album has all the hallmarks of an emotive music. Thoughtful and at times cryptic would be a good way to describe them lyrically, they warrant an attentive listener but at the same time you do not need to pull out dictionaries and college literature books to understand what they are trying to illustrate. For instance this is a line out of “Telematics“

So hard we tried to connect, signals were lost what was your intent with your two step talk? It's so hard to see the silver lining your cheeks There's answers hidden in idle words beneath the sheets...full text