Elva is Allo Darlin’s Elizabeth Morris and Ola Innset of the Norwegian bands Making Marks and Sunturns. For those of you who are coming here because you were a fan of releases by Allo Darlin' on Slumberland Records, or the late Fortuna Pop! label, you're in luck as you'll probably like Winter Sun a lot. However, it's worth noting that the style is different this time around for Morris.
While "Athens" is laconic folk, the superb "Ghost Writer" suggests an updating of the template laid down by Black Tambourine's Pam Berry in her Glo-Worm project. Elsewhere, "Harbour in the Storm" and "Everything is Strange" see both Elizabeth and Ola taking turns on lead vocals, with each cut the sort of delictate pop that Elliott Smith once perfected, with flashes of Nick Drake peaking through the loose seams. And while lots of what's on Winter Sun is fairly down-tempo, when Elva let themselves catch the energy of a tailwind, like, for example, on the appropriately-named "Tailwind", the results are delightful, with a listener thinking how well this sort of stuff will sit next to nearly anything Allo Darlin' recorded in the not-so-distant past.
Winter Sun will be out on Friday via Tapete Records.
More details on Elva via the band's official Facebook page.
[Photo: Jørgen Nordby]