Neither Neither World – Invisible Angel

Neither Neither World from San Francisco are certainly no newcomers. The first album of the band around singer-songwriter Wendy van Dusen appeared a dozen years ago and for a while they belonged to the ‘World Serpent scene’. Invisible Angels is the successor of 2004’s Rewound, also released by Shayo. Their new short album, which comes in a nice digipack, is characterized by a soft accessible sound, somewhere between acoustic folk, ethereal pop and indie rock.

A clear trademark of Neither Neither World are the dreamy, somewhat childish naive vocals of Van Dusen, reminding of Mazzy Star, Cranes and other ‘shoegaze’ acts. She is now accompanied by a fuller musical setting than in the past. The first tracks ‘Promise’ and ‘Ghosts whisper’ are decent soft folk/pop songs, carried by strummed acoustic guitars, elegant piano and the mysterious tales sung by Wendy. ‘Shadow of the wings’ is probably my favourite tune, mostly instrumental with nice atmospheric guitar work.
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I have the feeling that Invisible Angels sounds less experimental, more polished than most older work of Neither Neither World. This makes it a pleasant album to listen if you’re in the mood for something subtle, without many sharp edges. The biggest deviation to the general sound is ‘Buried and gone’, which features rock guitars and a dark mood, making me think of Faith & the Muse. Not really my cup of tea. Most of the other tracks sound pleasant to me, without leaving a really lasting impression.

artist: Neither Neither World
label: Shayo Records
details: cd, 7 tracks, 2006 [shayo 007]