Tons of artists have knocked down genre walls in the past, yet few have done it with as much confidence and swagger as Nova Twins on their explosive sophomore album Supernova. Everything from trap, industrial, nu-metal, hip-hop, arena rock, pop, grunge, punk, EDM, and more gets tossed into a blender, served in a tall cocktail glass complete with flamboyant garnishes, then tossed in the face of the establishment.
The London-based Amy Love (guitar, lead vocals) and Georgia South (bass, backing vocals) worked with producers Jim Abbiss (Arctic Monkeys) and Romesh Dodangoda (Motorhead) to concoct the wild eleven-song ride of Supernova that never once lets up over the half-hour run time.
The “Power (Intro)” aptly declares “Welcome to the end/And your new beginning” as the duo set the scene before slamming into “Antagonist” which uses a nu-metal bounce and alt-guitars all-around industrial buzzing; when Love sings “I know you never met someone like me bitch” she may just be correct. The slinky “Cleopatra” feels like a new Jack White offering with a sexy assertive flow around laser-like guitars while the skittering trap-laden “K.M.B” stutters and struts with hip-hop swag.
The band’s unique image and gender give them an edge on the nu-metal “Fire & Ice” while the arena rocking chorus around electro beats pumps up the jams for “A Dark Place for Somewhere Beautiful”. Perhaps their best offering (on an album chockfull of them) is “Puzzles” which feels as if Missy Elliott, Slipknot, and Parliament-Funkadelic got caught up in a wild orgy.
The group goes more electronica with the industrial rave-up “Toolbox” and the simply uber-banging “Choose Your Fighter” which recalls Knife Party at their best. The heavy rocking noise-pop of “Enemy” fits them like a glove, however the weakest track here, “Sleep Paralysis” ends things, and the over-the-top theatrics don’t work as well as the duo’s previous efforts.
That said, Love and South turn it all the way up to 11 as the overdriven, grimy, and the raging duo go for it on every track here. The album calls to mind Kid Rock’s diamond-selling breakthrough Devil With A Cause for the new millennium as each song screams to be a soundtrack to a video game, a wrestler’s entrance music or a memorable cinematic montage that lives forever.
Nova Twins have cultivated an image with their look, over-stylized videos, and superheroine-like charisma, now with Supernova, they are loaded with the tunes to explode into the stratosphere.