“It feels so good to fix something, even if it’s temporary,” says Ava Luna’s Felicia Douglass about the emotions underpinning new single ‘Coat of Shellac’. “As a dancer I used to put coats of shellac on my pointe shoes to increase their longevity. But I knew it was only a quick fix.” After the kaleidoscopic funk-punk triumph that was their second album ‘Electric Balloon’, released barely a year ago, you’d have forgiven the New Yorkers for adopting an ‘if it ain’t broke…’ approach to upcoming third album ‘Infinite House’. Instead the five-piece – Douglass, guitarists Carlos Hernandez and Becca Kauffman, bassist Ethan Bassford and drummer Julian Fader – holed up in sleepy Mississippi ghost town Benton to dismantle their freewheeling Talking Heads-ish sound and rebuild, tauter, more ambitious and unpredictable than ever.
‘Coat of Shellac’ is the second track glimpsed from ‘Infinite House’ following jerking lead single ‘Billz’, and proof of their even greater eclecticism this time around: a four-minute slink of raw, spacey future-pop about the drain of protecting something you love, dripping with frustration and unanswered questions (“if it’s over, will you wanna go?”). Where most bands have one predominant voice when it comes to songwriting, the New Yorkers have a handful, and each track varies depending on who’s leading the charge. Like on Douglass-led ‘Electric Balloon’ standout ‘PRPL’, ‘Coat of Shellac’ is the smoother side of Ava Luna, tempered by dissonant, angular guitars, rather than guided by them. Check it out below and be sure to pick up ‘Infinite House’ when it’s released via Western Vinyl on May 4.