Vona Vella: Carnival
LP | CD | DL
So it’s official. After feeding us occasional morsels for the better part of half a year, the highly anticipated second record from Vona Vella is finally here. The effortlessly fresh 5-piece from Nottingham smile gleefully behind their work – and no wonder. A whistle-stop tour of the bands’ music can see you harking back to the kaleidoscopic indie-pop noughties’ era. But there’s more on display than first musings. Second time around, Carnival is a whole new book for the band; let alone a page.
Starting out as a duo multi-instrumentalists Izzy and Dan in 2020, they’ve since slowly been growing into a fully embellished sound . Featuring early promise in 2022 amongst viral hit, Sun, and attention in the video game sphere with 2K’s NBA series, it was only a matter of time that more and more attention was garnered from the now five-piece band in their new era.
Written amid the first stumbling steps of adulthood living out of bags and enjoying the ride, they incorporate woozy psychedelics, darkened jangly riffs and glossy charm in a mixer somewhere between indie-rock inflections of The Strokes, The Coral and craftsmanship of Belle And Sebastian. This jovial look to life on teetering on the frailties of life is what brings this record together. Easily mistaken for naivety, it incorporates a new sense of swagger and sophistication to a band that were always artists in the making – they just needed that certification.
The thirteen tracks incorporated don’t necessarily hold back either. The self-titled album wades in a celebration on a carousel – unsure of what’s really going on, but having fun all the same. Skittish guitar frolics amongst rip-roaring vocals from both Izzy Davis and Dan Cunningham. Its follow up, Bass Driver, waltzes in on a more darkened mood, embodying Wet Leg’s flippant style. Elsewhere, You Can Be so Ugly ups the tempo with sunshine and cupid with a summertime indie anthem. Over & Over is a boozy dreamscape of ignoring the world’s most noisiest noise and pressing on. A refreshing affair, I Wanna Tap Into Your Heaven Again is an effortless drawstring of chorus might and power, not too dissimilar of Wolf Alice’s mark up.
The band cozy on up with renderings of lush acoustic with Exit Plan and Brand New Boy, while Selfish Dogs is a breathless work inhaling that sea air – “don’t wash away like the coast..”
The fast and frenetics are not all over though. Lead stand-out Bear Trap is a wall-of-sound guitar attacks and blitz of percussive hits all amongst a song enriched with emotional tension – a real doozy this one. Inflections of funk – and perhaps future signature sounds – leave their mark on final chapter with Bottled. A real smorgasbord of influence and talent, it sets the bar in terms of new music this year.
Known for a hotbed of indie and folk stalwarts alike, it can be a tall order repping such a city of stature like Nottingham , but they’ve taken it in their stride, defiantly forging their own path. Most recently Vona Vella have launched their regular new music night Vona Vella Presents At The Grove in Nottingham. Singer, Dan, who owns and runs The Grove nights and recording studio, says: “Since opening The Grove we’ve met and worked with so many talented artists with huge potential that we felt we had to do something to help support them”. Since then, the band have shared the stage with fellow artists, friends and companions over three different nights sharing the love of music and community in a city that equally shares the guys’ values.
A sparkling evolution and further proof that good grows within the confines of grassroots, Vona Vella are making all kinds of the right noise.
Carnival is released on 27th February with a major in-store tour celebrating its release followed by performances at some of the bands’ most favourite cities, including Nottingham’s Bodega in April.
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All words by Alex Curle. This is Alex’s first review for Louder Than War
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