Bristol-based four-piece No Violet have unleashed their long-awaited self-titled debut album, and it’s every bit as dark, dirty, and deliciously unhinged as their reputation suggests. Described in their press pack as a “love letter to distortion and discontent,” that phrase couldn’t be more apt, this is an album that doesn’t so much play grunge revival as it chews it up, spits it out, and sets it on fire.
From the opening moments of ‘Wait a Minute’, there’s an unease that simmers beneath the surface, it starts deceivingly quiet, Ellie’s voice hovering with ghostly sweetness, before the band crashes in with a wall of fuzz-heavy guitars that could melt plaster. It’s a perfect introduction to their sound: controlled chaos wrapped around delicate menace.
Singer Ellie Godwin’s vocals are something truly special, reminiscent of KatieJane Garside in the way they shift from soft and sweet to something primal and feral within seconds. She can whisper like she’s reading a secret and then snarl like she’s exorcising it. That contrast plays beautifully against the backdrop of the band’s sludge-soaked riffs and pounding drums.
Tracks like ‘Stop Me’ take on a warped lullaby quality, a haunting swirl of distortion, feedback and eerie calm before the inevitable storm. ‘Honestly, Honestly’ creeps along like the soundtrack to a psychological thriller, building and collapsing in waves, the tension constantly pushed to the edge but never allowed full release.
Elsewhere, ‘I Told You’ and ‘Losing Sight’ perfectly showcase their knack for pacing and restraint. No Violet know when to let the silence breathe, those moments of space before everything detonates are what make the explosions hit harder. There’s a twisted sensuality to the whole album; it’s buried in layers of reverb and delay, but you can feel it pacing restlessly in the corner, waiting to bite.
What really sets No Violet apart, though, is their refusal to polish the edges. It’s gloriously unfiltered, raw, immediate, and emotionally volatile. You get the sense this is a band that thrives on discomfort, who find their truth in the moments where most bands would pull back.
It’s an album to experience with headphones in, head down, world off — or better yet, live and three feet from the amp, where the fuzz can rattle your ribcage. No Violet is a stunning debut: feral and fiercely alive.
No Violet is out now and you can get it here
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Review by Hayley Foster da Silva
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