There is something luminous, ethereal, otherworldly about the way that “Song for a Diva” drifts towards the listener, a blend of floating sonics and half-heard musicality that seems to swirl, cloud-like, around Ali Wood’s extraordinarily angelic vocals.
And even when, at about a minute in, these misty sonics solidify and become less opaque, there is still an intangible feeling found throughout the song, something to be absorbed, perhaps, rather than merely listened to. You wouldn’t quite call it dream-pop, but you wouldn’t call it rock music either, neither does indie-folk seem quite apt, but it somehow builds bridges between all those worlds, a loosely tied rope bridge that sways and soars above canyons of fad and expectation.
Then a sax-soaked swathe of sound coiled around deft and dexterous bluesy-rock lead breaks allows it to step up a gossamer gear, adding soulful sentiments and siren sounds, and you find yourself even further adrift from the shore of music familiarity you have experienced to date.
If the music is reflective and meditative, then the lyrics match such feelings, musing on themes of “how easily doubts and negative thoughts can cloud your view of the future.”
It’s a remarkable sound, especially for a band two singles into their journey, but it is clear that this is a set of seasoned musicians, a band that understands that there is no point just repeating what has gone before. If you want to get noticed, you need to bring something new to the table, give the potential audience something that, whilst it might contain an air of familiarity, is all about the new, the fresh, the forward-thinking. And boy, is “Song for a Diva” all of that…and more.
