Look, I saw Versus a bunch of times in the Nineties and after (including once on a double-bill with a post-Helium / pre-Wild Flag Mary Timony outfit called The Soft Power), and I'm nothing if not a huge fan. I say that because, really, there's no way I could be anything less than ecstatic to report that Versus are back!
The band's new EP, Ex Nihilo. drops on Friday via Ernest Jenning Record Co., and it's wonderful. Richard Baluyut, Fontaine Toups, and Edward Baluyut sound invigorated here, with opener "Invisible Love" doing that familiar Versus thing where, once the groove is established and a listener is comfortable coasting along on a brisk-if-uneasy rhythm, the band revs up and things lock into a faster groove, with chords and vocals soaring ever so subtly. Elsewhere, Fontaine Toups sings the superb anthem, "Bows and Arrows", while "Gravity (Version)" sees interlocking vocals from Richard and Fontaine riding a bright, down-tempo hook from the rhythm section. Ex Nihilo closes with the elegiac "Between The Hemispheres", a number that echoes both The Cure circa "Pictures Of You", and Versus themselves way back on "Shangri-La" and "My Adidas" at the turn of this century. More lovely than urgent, the song is another reminder of how very well this band have always managed the modulation of mood and tone in their particular brand of indie-pop, with a guitar solo late in this song being one of those perfect little moments between roars on a Versus record that long-time fans have come to anticipate and appreciate.
The good news is that Ex Nihilo is the first bit of new music from Versus in 2019 as a full-length album is apparently coming later in the year. I'm glad the band's back, and I'm urging you to get this EP as soon as you can.
Ex Nihilo is out on Friday via Ernest Jenning Record Co..
More details on Versus via the band's Facebook page.
[Photo: Chris Sikich]