Back in 2023 I reviewed Sara Noelle’s album Do I Have to Feel Everything and described the feeling of weightlessness that she creates in her music like dust suspended in sunlight. That same sense of tranquil buoyancy is woven through her new release ‘Weather Vane’ which has the feel of being awake on a hot summer’s night, windows wide open with just the susseration of leaves and everything seemingly vibrating in the heat. The muted electronic drum pattern is a slow pulse that drifts in and out and there are also a few glorious moments where the song shifts to a minor key with this woozily unexpected element like clouds briefly passing in front of a bright moon. Sara says the song is about “cyclical bloom, wayward dreams and feeling adrift as the seasons turn”
The video was created by animator and artist Kelsey Boncato and it’s a perfect complement to the music it depicts. Pastel colours abound with trees and clouds moving in dreamlike motion. Flowers burst out and shimmer and petals rain down, and we also get a birds-eye view of suburbia wonderfully adding to our sense of being removed from the humdrum; like flying in a dream. Sara says of Kelsey, “She created a dream-like landscape of the changing of the seasons — brought out those feelings of searching / connection — and hand-draws all of her animations and storyboards”
‘Weather Vane’ is enigmatic and transfixing. It is unhurried and cloud soft with a warmth that bridges the matutinal and vespertine worlds, and I hope it’s the forerunner of many more to come this year.
Sara Noelle socials: Facebook | Instagram | Website | Bandcamp | YouTube
Review by Paul F Cook
Keep up to date with all new content on Joyzine via our
Facebook | Bluesky | Instagram | Threads | Mailing List