TRACK REVIEW: Nova Twins - Cleopatra

TRACK REVIEW:

Nova Twins

PHOTO CREDIT: Arthur René Walwin

Cleopatra

9.8/10

The track, Cleopatra, is available from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfqaPLU_epQ

ORIGIN:

London, U.K.

GENRES:

Alternative/Rock/Punk/Grunge

RELEASE DATE:

16th March, 2022

The album, Supernova, is available from 17th June. Pre-order here:

https://novatwins.ochre.store/supernova

__________

HERE is a duo…

that I have included on my blog before. One of the most interesting, powerful, inspirational and important acts in music, Nova Twins prepare to release their second album, Supernova, on 17th June. It follows the brilliant Who Are the Girls? of 2020. That album came out mere weeks before the pandemic reached us in the U.K. It was one of the worst times to put out a debut. Such a mighty and stunning album needed to be played live. Amy Love (lead vocals, guitar) and Georgia South (bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals) did get to play the album live, though it must have been weird having this debut out and it being overshadowed fairly soon. Now, ahead of their second album, they are in a much better position when it comes to being able to play it live. Singles Antagonist and K.M.B. have already arrived. I am going to get to reviewing the current single, Cleopatra, soon. I am going to work my way towards that track. I want to cover off a few things before I get there. It is worth learning about how Nova Twins met, and what music they listened to when growing up. In this NME interview from last year, we discover how Love and South met:

“Friends since childhood in Essex and London respectively, Love and South’s rise to alt-rock prominence has come from years of gigging around the punk circuit, taking in the Camden Barfly, Lewisham’s Fox & Firkin and The Dome at Tufnell Park. Though they each started out in different small bands and projects, they would take care to get booked onto the same line-ups, cheering each other on before decamping to South’s parent’s house to debrief. When they eventually decided to work together, initially under the name Braats, friends and family encouraged them to avoid conforming or imitating the influence of others. Instead they set about writing songs that felt like them, establishing the blueprint for the individuality that makes Nova Twins so arresting today.

PHOTO CREDIT: Emma Viola Lilja

“I think at the beginning, we were just having fun with it,” says South. “It was just us being best friends, writing a song and thinking, ‘Actually, this is really good – let’s write some more’. So I think that kind of natural energy formed the kind of sound of Nova Twins. And then obviously we had different influences growing up. I loved N.E.R.D, anything Pharrell did, Timbaland productions; all of those electronic aspects of music.”

Love jumps in: “On the flipside, I was listening to a mixture of things, growing up in Essex. At first it was a lot of UK garage and soul, but then at college at 16 I was discovering people like New York Dolls and MC5 and got quite obsessive.” She shouts out British hard rockers Deep Purple and funk and soul singer Betty Davis, whom she describes as “just bringing that energy”, adding: “The first Nova Twins song was written on just bass and top line, then we had some drum beats, and then eventually we got a play-in drummer and that was it. We just kept going and going and going.”

Having found in each other what Love describes as “sisters of the soul”, the pair’s loving dynamic has clearly been the driving force in Nova Twins’ defiant journey through potentially hostile industry waters. Their music might be in-your-face, but the endearing politeness they hold for one another creates an humourous contrast, each waiting patiently for each other to finish talking before adding their own thoughts.

“We’ve definitely gone through a lot with each other,” nods Love. “We love music, but to the core of things, people are what’s important. We’ve gone from girls to women together; it’s really nice to have genuine family around to do this stuff with”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Emma Viola Lilja

I think one of the most distinct things about Nova Twins is their sound. A tremendous blend of Rock and Alternative with other sounds and shades in the mix, there is nobody like them in modern music. This Music Radar interview from September posed the question regarding the sound of Nova Twins:

“We have spoke before but this is the first time we have had you on the site. For the benefit of those unfamiliar with your sound, how would you describe it? Because there is the culture clash of hip-hop and grime with rock and punk, and you really do play around with sound.

Georgia South: “When we record in the studio, we want everything to be played live. With the first album, that was our manifesto. Every riff, every sound, it has to be able to be portrayed live – so no backing tracks or synths, extra keys, MIDI tracks triggering it all. We want to just do it all, tap-dancing onstage, very manually.

“And for our new music, we are following that same kind of ethos, of using sounds only from our pedalboards and our guitars, just because we want to keep it raw and something different.

“A lot of bands, it’s amazing what they are doing, but we thought it was a cool element to just have the pedals and stick with that for this next album. I’m not saying that we won’t change in the future, but for now we are loving experimenting with pedals, and being in our pedal lab!”

There’s also something really traditional and old-school about how you play this new-school sound.

GS: “Yeah, definitely. The way we approach it is very old-school but we love it. We started off that way, playing tons of punk shows… for years and years and years, just doing it that way as a three-piece, and we just have to…

Amy Love: “Stick to our roots!”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Nathan Roach

How important is volume to your sound? It’s something we don’t talk enough about but it can be so exhilarating.

GS: “Yeah, volume is everything! [Laughs] The other day, we had in-ears for the first time, and the volume wasn’t there. I couldn’t feel the bass, and I couldn’t feel the drums, ‘cos everything was quieter. I am used to having all the sound onstage being super loud. But, it’s obviously better for your ears and your hearing, but it was a harder show because you have got to work harder to be in the music, and when you feel like you are naturally just playing, you’re in that pocket, but when you don’t feel that natural thing, it is a whole different thing.”

AL: “Yeah, and I think live, something we like to play with is dynamics and volume. You can really create a moment by giving the track a bit of space and emptying it out to the point where you can come back and hit it hard for a chorus or something like that. We definitely play with dynamics, with volume, to give the audience more of a journey. And we are writing more music with that in mind. It is important. I think dynamics are key to any band, to be able to take the audience on a journey so it doesn’t get too boring”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Corinne Cumming

I might get a bit guitar-nerdy for a bit! The guitar and bass are so integral to the sound and impact of Nova Twins. Going back to the Music Radar interview, Nova Twins discussed their set-up and how they get that unique and potent sound:

“That’s a consideration we don’t talk about enough, how the guitar works with the pedals. We talk about amps taking pedals well but it’s the same deal for guitar and how the pickups work with it.

GS: “The pickups are the main thing. I don’t tend to use active basses that much. I use it on the passive setting. Sometimes it sounds cool with the glitches but other times the pedals are like, ‘Noooo, I don’t want to!’ [Laughs]”

AL: “I think when we started playing, we always stuck to our one guitar, but you don’t really realise how the guitar reacts almost like a pedal, and like the difference between a DI and an amp, and how that sounds with a P-Bass to a Westone, from a Mustang to a Strat. As you start playing different guitars, you use it as another sonic texture to write with. Because, even your fretless…”

GS: “Yeah, I have a fretless Fender. I got that in lockdown and wrote a verse on that, so it’s cool for the verse to go from all super slinky and then into a different bass for the chorus. I don’t know how I am going to do that live. [Laughs] I’m going to have to try do that on one bass.”

AL: “But I love how you just used it in a different way, because everyone just sees it as a jazz bass, and you use it in a different way, man!”

GS: “Yeah, when Fender gave us the fretless people were like, ‘Why? Why did you get a fretless?’ But you’ve just got to use it in a different way.”

Definitely. And there are possibilities with the fretless. You can use it to emulate a synth.

GS: “Yeah! It sounds super synth-y, it sounds cool”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Arthur René Walwin

As artists of colour, Nova Twins have faced prejudice. Not purely a Rock act, many would consider this an area of music dominated by white artists. White men. Maybe things are improving regarding representation, but this idea that guitar music should be for white men or a certain demographic meant Georgia South and Amy Love have had to deal with some horrible remarks and judgements. Coming back to the NME interview from earlier, we learn what it was like for them in the early days:

“Though the pair gigged and worked relentlessly, the barriers of racial stereotype did come into play. Both recall feeling overlooked or discriminated against as a new band, and dismissed by those who couldn’t seem to understand why they weren’t performing straight hip-hop or R&B.

“We really noticed that when we first came on the scene there was this whole new wave of feminist punk,” says Love. “A lot of magazines were picking and choosing. NME actually did cover us when we first came out, but even though we were playing the same shows as a lot of our peers, we weren’t getting included or seen as riot grrrls. It was really strange. I’m not gonna mention names, but certain magazines would cover a full event day stage and they still wouldn’t write about us. It was almost like they couldn’t comprehend that two Black women could be seen as riot grrrls, you know? Or maybe the type of music we were doing was a little bit different”.

Sticking on the theme, and maybe there was this attack and judgment because Rock fans were stubborn when it came to accepting evolution and something different. In this interview from the Evening Standard earlier this month, the sense of fearlessness displayed on their 2020 debut showed they were doing something fresh with the genre of Rock:

“That fearlessness paid off, with the duo’s acclaimed debut album Who Are the Girls? earning them critical acclaim and a legion of new fans – including some famous ones too, like Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello and Bring Me The Horizon, the latter with whom they collaborated recently. Bands as varied as Wolf Alice, Sleaford Mods, Enter Shikari and Yungblud have all invited them to be tour supports, showing just how many different fan-bases their music can reach. Earlier this year they got two nominations at the NME Awards, for Best UK Band and Best Band in the World. Rock finally seems to have caught up too, with more willingness to take a chance on bands doing something genuinely new and exciting with the genre.

“The only reason people were saying rock was dead because it wasn’t as inclusive, as diversified, so it was getting the same, stale repetitive stuff,” Love says of the scene that was rolling out similar headliners at festivals year after year. “Rock isn’t dead. There are so many women driving it forward now and it’s the freshest sounding stuff we’ve heard in f***ing years... We played our hearts out on those stages every time: we left an impression that rock doesn’t have to be for the boys. Now, it’s finally starting to push through”.

Two young Black women in Rock, their additions of Hip-Hop and Grime have opened the door for other artists. It has been a struggle for Nova Twins to gain acceptance. Many embraced them from the start, though there have been quarters that have written them off or discriminated against them. In an Alternative Press interview, Nova Twins recounted how they were seen as odd because, being Black women, they were entering this Rock world. I think, in 2022, there is still this preconceived notion of what Rock should be and who should play it:

“We’re two young Black women in rock music, [so] all the odds are stacked against us,” Love says. “It’s predominantly white male, and it has been for a very long time, and therefore it was a lot harder for us to find a space to exist. We had to really create our own bubble of ignoring what everyone told us and be reliant on looking to each other for support because we thought we were going mad when we were first a band. People just weren’t accepting of it. They weren’t getting it. They just didn’t understand why we [were] doing this kind of music in the first place.”

The absurd notion that people of color have no place in punk rock can be easily dispelled in just two words: Bad Brains. In 1987, when the African-American quartet from Washington, D.C. arrived in London for a concert at the Clarendon club, in Hammersmith, the streets outside were packed with many hundreds, if not thousands, of people unable to gain entry. So no problem there, then.

Back in the 1980s, racism in wider British society was easily identifiable; it was monkey noises on the soccer terraces or a primetime television show in which light-entertainers donned blackface and sang calypso. But in the 21st century, a new vocabulary has emerged by which base emotions are given cover by dog-whistle terminology. People talk of “social cohesion,” “taking back control of our borders” and the “anglosphere.”

By way of response, London groups such as Nova Twins and Bob Vylan have emerged with a compelling anti-racist counterview that, for the first time in quite a while, manages to reclaim punk’s radical edge. Make no mistake: Good music is emerging from this exhausting battle royal. But what really sets Love and South apart is that the pair are kicking against the pricks on two fronts.

“Being women and women of color is two separate entities,” Love says. “Do you know what I mean? If you turn up on rock bills, or at a festival, as women, that’s already an assumption that you’re going to be shit. Just because you’re a woman. And if you’re good, that’s such a surprise. Like, [feel free to imagine an intelligent young woman mimicking the most patronizing voice you’ve ever heard] ‘Wow, you’re really talented!’ We get that a lot. Why? Because we’re women. But we’re also Black women.”

After concerts, audience members would approach Nova Twins to congratulate them on their dance moves — “We’re like, ‘We’re not dancers,’” Love says — while magazines would omit them from reviews of festivals in which every other band were given coverage. “People would say to us, ‘We don’t see you as rock,’” South says. “They would ask, ‘How can you fit in? Surely you’re more hip-hop.’ If we were silhouettes, if you couldn’t see what we looked like, we’d be rock. But because [people were] confused by our image, they were like, ‘Ooh, how is this going to fit in?’ They don’t really understand what kind of category we’re supposed to be. There were lots of things like that”.

Nova Twins are not solely responsible for bringing about change and carrying the torch. They are in a position where they have captured huge critical acclaim and focus. With their second album arriving soon, it will help to bring about change and awareness. In February, Nova Twins spoke with Kerrang!. It does seem that change is beginning to happen:

“It’s also their turn, they realise, to carry the baton for those who’ve come before and dedicated their lives to enacting real change – for women, for people of colour, for women of colour. Because while the duo undoubtedly march to the beat of their own drum, they do so accompanied by ‘the sound of the dead choir’s roar’, as Antagonist puts it. “In my head, I was seeing the people who have been and have passed on,” says Amy. “But they’re still chanting, our ancestors, the people who have fought for civil rights and fought for women’s rights, which has passed on to us, so we keep fighting for what we think is right.”

Real change is, thankfully, taking place when it comes to representation in rock. The day before this interview, Ho99o9, a POC duo taking their art in less accessible, more incendiary directions, are revealed as the stars of K!’s Cover Story. Meet Me @ The Altar, who graced the cover last summer, are changing the traditionally white, male face of pop-punk. Meanwhile, on this side of the Atlantic the likes of Big Joanie, The Tuts, SPEW, Handle and Best Praxis provide us with not just reassurance of a more diverse and inclusive scene, but viable role models for a new generation of aspiring stars.

“When we see kids like that, we literally look at each other and say, ‘We need to go mental today,’” grins Georgia of the prospect of playing in front of young individuals of colour, who may be seeing people who look like them performing in a rock context for the first time. “It might be the one chance they get to see themselves in a punky setting.”

Nova Twins have led by example on this front too, having curated a bill for their UK and Ireland headline tour (starting this week) featuring DJ/On Wednesdays We Wear Black podcast co-host Alyx Holcombe, Irish/Ivorian rapper Celavied Mai, singer-songwriter Connie Constance, and rapper Kid Bookie. Many of these artists featured on Nova Twins’ Voices Of The Unheard, a project started as a platform for underrepresented artists, initially as a vinyl release, and later as a continually updated Spotify playlist”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Esmé Surfleet

Staying with this Kerrang! interview, and the connection South and Love has is incredible. They are almost like sisters! This affection and understanding is pivotal regarding their incredible music and how they are almost telekinetic. Their live shows prove how in tune they are with one another:

“When Antagonist was first released, Georgia described the single as “the sound of both of our energies coming together”. That’s a statement of fact, of course, given that Georgia and Amy worked on early versions of the song while separated by lockdown restrictions, before eventually convening at Marshall Studios in Milton Keynes to flesh it out. But it’s also the case that Nova Twins are two unique individuals whose combined efforts produce something equally. But what does each bring to the party? What are their separate energies?

To an outsider, the differences between the two seem obvious. Georgia almost always speaks first, which is unusual given that she appears the more cautious, her answers peppered with nervous laughter. Amy, on the other hand, seems to relish the spotlight to a greater degree, whether that’s treating a tricky subject to an irreverent spin, or commanding the attention of 20,000 people at London’s The O2, supporting Bring Me The Horizon, as Nova Twins did last September.

As it turns out, K!’s impressions aren’t entirely wide of the mark; according to the women themselves, if they were to sum up their unofficial roles in the band, then Amy is the witch and Georgia is the scientist. “If she’s got a good feeling that something is going to happen, literally an hour later we’ll get big news,” Georgia says of Amy’s near-supernatural gift for premonition, particularly when it comes to sensing good fortune for the band. “And she’s got very good gut instincts about things, especially around the crazier ideas.” Creatively speaking, those ‘crazier ideas’ tend to begin with Georgia, whose gift for sonic manipulation frequently leaves her bandmate unsure quite what to expect next. “Her ideas may initially seem mental and wacky,” says Amy, “but they’re presented in a way that means they make total sense”.

Before getting to their latest single, it is worth spending some time exploring Supernova. Going back to that Evening Standard interview, Nova Twins discussed some of the songs on Supernova. They talked about how Cleopatra came together:

“New album Supernova is filled with plenty of similarly empowering messages for women, like on fiery gothic standout ‘K.M.B.’ where the patriarchy gets a reckoning and electro-anthem Cleopatra – a bold call to action that sees Love declare she’s a “boss bitch”, a “warrior” and a “fighter”. Puzzles too sees them smash taboos on a track where women talk about enjoying sex. “We just thought why not make a heavy sexy song? It’s about not shaming other people,” Love says of the track. “If we cover up, people are like ‘Oh, you’re good girls’ and we were both like ‘Hang on a minute!’ If we want to wear a bralette or a skirt or anything then we will. If we want to talk about sex, then we will do that too!”

Cleopatra was written under lockdown after the Black Lives Matter protests. The song, like so many on the album, interrogates race alongside gender, with the pair saying that the protests made them challenge discriminatory behaviours more determinedly. Opening track Antagonist is perhaps the most vociferous and sees Love declare “I’m feeling like a riot / If it’s a cure to the cause” over South’s thundering bass.

“The Black Lives Matter [protests] were a big part of these [songs],” Love says. “It was also just us opening a big can of worms having many discoveries too. Some of the things that we didn’t even notice like micro-aggressions – things we’ve always been told are just the way the world is, we started to look at them and go: ‘Hang on, that’s not okay.’ You do have to call it out. People used to look at us and be like ‘They’re moaning, they’re being angry black women’”, she explains, saying whenever they would challenge the status quo, they were met with such oppositional, prejudiced comments. “Black Lives Matter made people take things like this a lot more seriously”.

One of the most cutting, sharp and hard-hitting Rock acts, they are a blend of futuristic and classic. I don’t think there are many Rock groups that have the same punch and riffs as the legends. The genre has broadened and almost softened. That is not to say artists are ignoring big issues or coming across as forgettable. Nova Twins are discussing and raising important themes and have this powerful set of lyrics. They also match it with compositions that are catchy, tough and innovative. With elements of Disco, Grunge and Rock blended into this fiery and fist-pumping introduction (that reminds me of Rage Against the Machine), you are instantly hooked on this wonderful song! Twenty seconds of grit, swagger and a sonic declaration of intent leads to Amy Love stepping to the microphone. With this Hip-Hop bounce and attitude, she is backed by snarly and middle-finger-pointing bass and drums. The opening verse is incredible: “I’m the type of girl who likes taking the lead/I don’t give a fuck what they say about me/They say I’m scary, I’m not ladylike, I act like a queen/And I’ll be wearing the crown whilst I’ll be kissing my teeth, yeah/Blacker than the leather, that’s holding our boots together/If you rock a different shade, we come under the same umbrella/Pharaohs and empresses, our bones made out of treasure/I’ll be twirling on swords, watch me slit and slice and sever”. Insightful, clever and vivid, the combination of South and Love on vocals adds so much charge and unity to a song that is among the most potent and stunning Nova Twins have released. At a time when bands like Queens of the Stone Age have retreated and long-stays like Muse are sort of repeating themselves, Nova Twins are among a small selection (included are The Mysterines) of artist who are diversifying Rock and are doing something interesting and compelling. Maybe a reaction to how Nova Twins are perceived by some. Being Black women in Rock, do they have a place and should they stand aside? I can only imagine the type of attitudes and comments they have had to face. Cleopatra seems like this mission statement and fuc*-you to those who have doubted Nova Twins or pushed them aside.

The pre-chorus is more sensual and smooth. It is slinky, but there is this ongoing buzz, neon punch and groove: “At night, we ride/We come alive/You can’t run or hide/At night, we ride/We live, never die/It’s in our bloodlines”. There is some distortion to the vocals that gives it even more edge and power. From start to finish, Cleopatra never lets off the brakes. The chorus is this statement of intent: Nova Twins are definitely not ones to mess with: “I’m a samurai, samurai, samurai, dancer/Warrior, warrior, warrior, fighter/Ahh/I’m a boss bitch/Ahh/I’m Cleopatra/I’m a samurai, samurai, samurai, dancer/Warrior, warrior, warrior, fighter/Ahh/I’m a boss bitch/Ahh/I’m Cleopatra”. I love the sheer rush and wave that Nova Twins bring! The vocals have a slight touch of Gwen Stefani at her coolest and toughest. Funky, filled with spit and this undeniable swagger, there is this Punk attitude that gets under the skin. The song’s questions and lines about identity, race and finding acceptance are especially moving, memorable and important: “When I was a kid they always called me a freak/And now them little bitches want to look like me/They’ll be injecting, imperfecting till it starts to weep /You can buy your looks, but you can’t change your genes/I’m a straight talker/Fucking say what you mean/Want to know where I am from/And where the hell I’ve been/From Persia to Nigeria, London to Jamaica/Our ancestors were sailors/Crossed over the equator”. Cleopatra then returns to the pre-chorus and chorus. There is this feeling that they would not want to be anyone but themselves. Having faced so much crap and hate during their lives, they are proud Black women who are queens! “Ahh/Ahh/Wouldn’t wanna be/Wouldn’t wanna be/Wouldn’t wanna be/Anyone but me/Wouldn’t wanna be/Wouldn’t wanna be/Wouldn’t wanna be/I’m the fucking queen”. Taking their lead from the mighty Cleopatra (she was queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 B.C.), this song is the finest and most astonishing release from Supernova yet. It is my favourite track of the year so far!

I am going to finish off with one more point and interview. Going back to the Alt Press interview from earlier on, Love and South talked about the Rock and harder sounds played on the radio:

“On the radio [in the U.K.], what I’m hearing is Frank Carter, IDLES, Royal Blood,” South says. “I don’t really hear any heavy women. [Male artists] dominate. Biffy Clyro. Machine Gun Kelly. Travis Barker.” This is what the pair are up against, you see. This is what they know they’re up against, too. So with their basket of French fries — they call them chips over there — long since emptied, and the hour at which soundcheck will begin at Asylum, in Hull, fast approaching, Alternative Press has time for just one more question.

We cover a lot of bands who believe that their operation is built to last. More often than not, it’s anything but. So what exactly makes Nova Twins tougher than the rest?

“Because we’re not seeking anyone’s approval,” Love answers. Probably by now, you didn’t need to be told that she didn’t miss a beat. “And there’s no other option for us, really. This is it. We’ll make it work one way or another, as we have done for the last eight years — and as we’ll do for the next eight years. In spite of all the challenges we’ve had, it didn’t break us. There’s not been one moment when we’ve thought, ‘We’re not going to do this anymore.’ Not one. Even when it got to the point where we thought, ‘Fuck, how are we going to make an album? Where’s the money coming from? How are we going to do this?’ We never thought of giving up. We were like, ‘Fuck it, we’ll get a bank loan. Let’s fucking do this”.

Nova Twins will definitely bring about change. Although bands like The Mysterines are led by women (in their case, the incredible Lia Metcalfe), they are in the minority. Outside of Hip-Hop, there are not many Black women being represented in Rock. Radio is still playing men and male bands, even though there are a lot of all-female or female-led Rock/Punk groups (from Wolf Alice to YONAKA). I feel Supernova will help to bring about change – change that is sorely needed! It is going to be one of this year’s best and most important albums. On the evidence of Cleopatra, Supernova is an album that you…