By Jase Walker
Few bands have captured my imagination lately in quite the same way Calva Louise have since becoming aware of them in the lead up to their previous album, ‘Over The Threshold’, back in 2023. After doing some digging through their previous work I found they seemingly began as much more punk aligned with some heavier elements that steadily grew into the sound that they’ve established themselves with by the time ‘Over The Threshold’ dropped. The main thing that really made me pay attention to them though, other than the fantastic music, is their arty and often bizarre music video production style that seems to be more or less the brainchild of their singer and guitarist, Jessica Allanic.
One of the initial singles for ‘Edge Of The Abyss’ seemingly continued the lo-fi sci-fi goodness with ‘Under The Skin’ but the others such as ‘W.T.F’ and ‘Aimless’ forge their own unique visual path, echoing ’80s horror. Either way it’s impossible to deny that this artistic vision is ever present throughout their career and adds into this sort of “lore” of the band in a brilliantly unique manner.
Anyway onto the album itself, coming in at 11 tracks each with a succinct punchy length that doesn’t go much further past the 4:40 mark but what really stands out this time to me is there’s a much larger emphasis on songs with Spanish lyrics compared to Over The Threshold. For a quick bit of history about the band, they’re literally from all over the place with Jessica (keys/guitar/vocals) being Venuzuelan, Alizon (bass) being French and Ben (drums) from New Zealand and formed in London. So influences from three different continents blend together to create Calva Louise’s unique style.
‘Edge Of The Abyss’ showcases another brilliant step in the band’s refined musical style that draws on Latin music with accompanying Spanish lyrics mixed with intense punk and metal that gets a ton of EDM elements thrown in for good measure. This band does a fantastic job of staying consistent in sound yet managing to keep each song brilliantly unique and identifiable through intense hooks and vocal melodies. I’ve been listening to this album solidly during my gym workouts as the high-octane feel throughout the whole thing is perfect for keeping yourself going at it hard with the intense screams from Jessica and thunderous sound provided by both Ben and Alizon. It’s just a slice of good bloody fun.
Often with such strong albums it’s generally quite hard to pick out some favourites as usually I just stick the album on and go with the flow and appreciate it on the whole. Calva Louise have done a fantastic job using some outstanding songs as their singles in the lead up to it but I would definitely go for ‘W.T.F’ as a big one for me because it’s just that bit unhinged and has a lovely symphonic element with the ever present dancing piano melody throughout it before jumping back into an incredibly intense chorus that’ll no doubt provoke crowds to go wild at their live shows.
The band has maybe gone a little bit too hard on singles considering over half the album has been released this way but I feel this is reflective of people’s listening habits these days more than anything but it’s also given the band a chance to go all in with their incredible music videos so it’s not all bad? Seriously, go watch them on YouTube, they’re fucking fantastic.
If I was going to select an album only track that sticks out to me though there’s only one choice for me, ‘The Abyss’. This track sticks out as something that wouldn’t go amiss on a Carpenter Brut or Pertubator album and fully leans into dark gothy synths and anyone who knows me wouldn’t be in the least bit surprised, I am an absolute sucker for this sort of thing.
Ultimately this is another showcase of Calva Louise’s infectiously unique yet absolutely fucking unhinged (in the best way) style. There’s so much going on in their music style that scratches an itch for a band that wants to go hard yet keep using bizarre leftfield and unusual elements and they’re all the better for it. ‘Edge Of The Abyss’ is another all killer, no filler album from this power trio, they’re clearly super focused on what they’re doing and know they’re onto something really strong here that hopefully captures the attention of a wider audience that’ll dig into their back catalogue and find an absolute treasure trove.
Given that they’re getting progressively more and more high-profile support slots, they’ll be carrying their own torch and leading the way in their own right. Get your ears around this and maybe later this year catch them opening up the show for Stray From The Path’s final jaunt around the UK and Europe. Calva Louise are on track for far bigger things soon, and you’ll want to say you were there before they get there!
- ‘Edge Of The Abyss‘ is out now.