FEATURE: Modern-Day Queens: Nova Twins

FEATURE:

Modern-Day Queens

Nova Twins

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CURRENTLY on…

tour, and with a new album, Parasites & Butterflies, out, it is a very big time for Nova Twins. I will end with a review of the exceptional third studio album. The London duo of Amy Love and Georgia South are among the most important artists around. I know I use the word ‘important’ when describing artists, though I think it is apt. In the case of Nova Twins, there is no doubt that the music they are putting out is of the highest importance. In terms of the messages in the lyrics. An openness and introspection that might not have been obviously present during their first two albums. A broader but no less urgent and stunning palette, the musicianship on Parasites & Butterflies is also a notch up from their previous work. A duo always improving and adding to their brilliance, I will start out with a few recent interviews with Nova Twins. I will lead with an interview I have sourced before. Back in March, The Guardian chatted with Nova Twins. They talked about silencing the doubters of Heavy Metal. In a scene and genre that is still defined by white men, two Black women coming into this arena have to fight twice as hard. With high-profile fans including Elton John and Tom Morello, they do not have to prove themselves to anyone – though they have to face misogynoir and sexism:

“The Twins – not actual twins, but rather old, perfectly matched friends (what did they do on those long van rides? “Honestly we just yapped the whole time”) first met in their teens, when Love dated South’s brother: she became part of the family – the two girls even shared a bedroom – and eventually they started making music together. An early iteration of the group was named BRAAT way before the lime-green album was even a twinkle in Charli xcx’s eye, and their first song tumbled out of them amid giggles on the sofa. “Bad Bitches” – “It was just bass and vocals,” South recalls, “and we were like, oooh this is cool …” But this time, nothing was tumbling out of anywhere.

Slowly, as they decompressed from the tour and started engaging with “real life”again, reconnecting with friends and spending time enjoying London, themes and ideas started coming up. Third album Parasites & Butterflies is alive with that feeling of separate existences: it pings from serpentine hellfire (Glory) to kick-you-in-the-face rawk (Monster) to Beastie Boys-esque chanting (N.O.V.A) and potent balladry (Hummingbird).

On Supernova, they felt they had to be basically superheroes, relentless with manic positivity and power; the album has a hint of dread. “There’s a kind of dark undertone – which is reflective of where we were at the time – but in a good way,” Love says. “It’s open. Honest. Because we’re not all happy and super-strong 100% of the time.”

The Twins made a conscious decision not to use any synths on the album – all the sounds are made using guitars (Love) and bass (South) with vast boards of effects pedals to manipulate their output. “We’ve always pushed ourselves to do things really manually live,” South says. “And I think being women in music … people don’t question men. So they can have everything on the track and they can still be ‘the greatest’ – people won’t question if they’re playing live, they won’t question if they wrote their riffs, or if they’re miming, or anything. Because we were women going into it – and Black women – we were like: we need to play everything, do everything.”

It might have started as a reaction to the misogynoir that dogs heavy rock genres but it turned out to be an integral part of a Nova Twins show, with South in particular marshalling two vast planks of pedals at her feet, stomping on them periodically to take her bass from a muscular strut to a thundering dubstep fuzz.

Growing up in Essex and south London respectively, Love and South dealt with varying degrees of racism (Love is of Iranian and Nigerian descent, and South is of Jamaican and Australian). When they were playing endless toilet venues and open mic nights around the capital, they soon felt like outsiders in the notoriously white, male world of heavy music. “We couldn’t really see where we fit in,” Love says. “We’re like the only women on the bill, definitely the only Black people on the bill, or were at the time when we first started. And it would be like, well, we don’t quite belong here but the audience are really receptive to us. And then we’d be like, we didn’t really fit in the R&B hip-hop world, either”.

I am going to move to an interview from Punknews.com. They herald Parasites & Butterflies and how it “is a testament to the incredible strength of vulnerability and the indomitable spirit of Georgia South and Amy Love”. There is no denying the fact that we should embrace and celebrate Nova Twins. If you are not aware of them yet then I would definitely recommend that you check them out:

“You recorded Parasites and Butterflies with Rich Costey in Vermont. What went into your decision to record here?

Georgia: I think fate kind of put us all together with schedules and everything aligning. It was quite sudden that the opportunity came up to work with Rich. Obviously, we jumped at it and flew to America and did it with him in Vermont. [laughs] It was a really great experience. We were kinda in the middle of the woods for about four weeks, and we had the Foo Fighters tour in the middle of it and a few festivals. It was a crazy trip.

How did the environment impact the recording?

Amy: It was quite a juxtaposition from our rooms in winter, where we started writing the album. By the time we went to Vermont to record it everything was welcomed, like the scenery because it’s so green there. It was in the middle of the woods. It was a winter going into spring kind of thing and it was really beautiful and exactly what we needed; the calm, the peace. We had a studio dog, she was the engineer’s dog and it was just lovely. It was just what we needed.

Growth is a huge theme on the album. How do you feel you’ve grown as people and as musicians during your time working on the album?

Amy: With the theme, we like to say it is the bridge between chaos and beauty and just addressing all sides of the spectrum. We’ve always been known to be like Supernova, superhuman, superpowered, and we are definitely still those girls, but also, we are all human at the end of the day. It’s very important to share both sides of the coin and to make sure that people understand that there is power in being vulnerable as well. You don’t always have to be this front-facing titan; you can be vulnerable and honest with your emotions and still be just as powerful by sharing that. That went into the album a lot.

I think we say each year that it doesn’t ever stay the same. We naturally just evolve. We naturally grow. We definitely got more into the production on our side. We enjoyed that part of the growth. We’ve learned a lot, and to look back and see what we can do ourselves is really great.

What helps you look after your mental health on tour?

Georgia: We’ve started journaling, which is really fun. We started in January and we both got these cute little diaries. We write in there every night and that really helps. Just to have more of a routine of something you can do every day that grounds you again when everything is so different and crazy every day. You can come back to this journal. [laughs]

I think being more open in terms of if your social battery is feeling drained or if you feel a bit off, just communicating it. It’s fine to have to go for a walk by yourself and just chill. And trying to get as much sleep as we can because last tour was hardcore, we wouldn’t sleep for days and try to fit in as many shows as we could from LA to Bristol to Glasgow to God-knows-where. [laughs] It was crazy. We’re just trying to be more mindful with that. We’ve got a really amazing team that we travel with who also help keep morale high. We’re a really good unit.

Which part of Parasites and Butterflies are you proudest of?

Amy: It’s really hard. I feel like generally, the album as a whole. The songs are all very different from each other as well. You’ve got all these different concepts and energies. I think when we look back at the album, that’s the story. That’s the final thing. Like I said earlier, I was really excited to put “Black Roses” in the set but then it changes, it depends what mood you’re in. Now I’m in a “Fuck it!” chaotic mood.

[laughter]

Amy: I need to bring out “Parallel”! It just depends. For me, I would say I'm proud of the album as a whole.

Georgia: I would say the same, like as a whole body of work. It takes a lot to put a whole album together. You don’t see all behind the scenes; it’s not just writing it, it’s recording it, mixing it, then mastering it, and ordering it. It takes a long time. I think we’re proud of being proud of the work. [laughs]”.

DORK spoke with Nova Twins recently. They opened by stating how there is a lot of pressure on the second album from an artist. How it is ‘difficult’ and a big test. However, a third album is perhaps more relevant. In the sense that it proves that the artist has grown and has longevity. That album that really matters. No pressure on Parasites & Butterflies, but Nova Twins have definitely shown that they are here for the long-run! Although there are festivals and line-ups featuring Nu-Metal or Heavy Metal acts that are largely white and male, that is not the case everywhere. Nova Twins are hard to pigeonhole as they are the result of all of their influences. Neither straight-up Rock/Metal or Pop and R&B:

“Nova Twins have never been afraid to wear their hearts on their sleeves, and that honesty remains front and centre. Tracks like ‘Piranha’ hum with tension and expectation, while ‘Parallel Universe’ explores the disconnection of a society glued to DMs and dating apps. ‘N.O.V.A’ is a call to arms for self-belief, while ‘Drip’ feels like it’s delivered with a sly grin – the sound of a band comfortably claiming their space in the spotlight.

There’s no grand plan – just raw emotion. “The album was definitely very healing for us,” Georgia says. “It’s very honest. Whatever we wrote that day was rooted in where we were at that moment. We didn’t pre-plan it. If we needed a pick-me-up, we wrote ‘N.O.V.A’ or ‘Soprano’. We didn’t force anything.”

Sonically, things were equally fluid, though this time they wrote with the live show in mind. Having conquered massive rooms filled with crowds ready to mosh at the drop of a bassline, they channelled that energy into an album that builds up, breaks down, and refuses to stay in one genre for more than a moment.

“Now we know how things sound through a fat PA or massive stage speakers, or how the crowd will feel when it breaks down and kicks off,” Georgia grins. “It’s inspired by big moments in big arenas, so we definitely added more of that in!”

They might be working with heavyweight producers like Richard Costley now, but the heart of Nova Twins remains unchanged. From their first release as BRAATS back in 2014 to the behemoth they are today, the band still runs on the same fuel: the fierce bond between Amy and Georgia.

“We’re very lucky that we’re a duo,” Georgia says. “We balance each other out, which is the foundation we can build from. It makes us feel really empowered that it’s just us two. It keeps us inspired, and hopefully it can inspire other women and girls to write music, get on stages, to produce albums.”

Their place at the top of the nu-metal ladder isn’t just a personal win – it signals a bigger shift. Gone are the tired old tropes. In their place, new voices, new perspectives, and a scene more diverse than ever. Just ask anyone who saw their recent set at Vans Warped Tour.

“That was great,” Amy recalls. “We played quite early, I think it was lunchtime, but we still had such an amazing crowd that were really up for it. American crowds always seem to have that spark. They just get it. I think they’re used to those showbiz-heavy bands, so we feel really at home in that scene.”

“It was great to see so much diversity in the line-up and in the crowd,” Georgia adds. “It’s amazing how far it’s come even since we first started. We would turn up to festivals and we’d be the only Black people there – sometimes we’d be the only women there – so it’s definitely encouraging to see that progression”.

I will end with a review from Metal Hammer. On an album that ranks alongside the best of this year, Nova Twins have released something that is both chaotic and beautiful. There is darkness and weight on the album. However, there is also plenty of uplift and energy. These contrasts make Parasites & Butterflies so enthralling and nuanced. An arresting and compelling album that you will keep coming back to:

“Chaos and beauty – those are words Amy Love and Georgia South have repeated like a mantra around the release of the third Nova Twins album, Parasites & Butterflies. By their own admission, it’s a record that was born out of darkness, for even amid the crashing lows that inevitably accompany the highs of success, deadlines wait for no one.

The album is a response to the intense pressure that follows the whirlwind of early success, with a focus on the impact on the girls’ mental health that sees them wearing their hearts on their sleeves.

From the frenetic, shimmering Glory all the way to the darkly sweet Black Roses, the emotional arc of their storytelling is more immediately apparent this time around. It starts out in a vulnerable place and builds in confidence that at times turns to rage.

Which is not to say it’s all doom and gloom: Parasites & Butterflies is energised and exciting. Amy’s incandescent voice is more versatile than ever and she flexes her full range with all its colour, light and shade, from her lightning-fast verses on the cheeky, sensual Drip to the beautifully controlled performance of Hummingbird, an almost-ballad about grief.

What hasn’t changed is their talent for making immense, danceable songs that transcend genre. They never make the obvious choice: confessional anthem Monsters incorporates drum’n’bass and industrial elements, but with a big, soaring chorus.

Georgia can make just about any conceivable sound with just her bass and pedals, creating a deliciously heavy wub-wub-wub sound that you can feel in your stomach. N.O.V.A has the flavour of a 90s rock/ hip hop crossover, with its RATM-esque guitar riff and addictive chant chorus. At this point, their punk swagger seems to have returned; by Hurricane, they’re resolute, spitting ‘Keep the pressure on, ’cause we ain’t going nowhere.’

Parasites & Butterflies’ conception may have been fraught, but Nova Twins have made something beautiful out of the chaos”.

Let’s leave things there. I have been a fan of Nova Twins for a while, though I feel like this is a particularly huge moment for them. The release of their third studio album. Big tour dates. Amy Love and Georgia South are an incredible partnership that is defined by this close and deep connection. The music Nova Twins makes is among the best in the world. They are no doubt inspiring so many people. Helping to change the conversation around gender and racial bias in genres like Metal. Helping to break down barriers. If they are not there already, then do make sure that you add Nova Twins…