Neither/Neither World - Invisible Angel (2005)

I had known about the oddly named San Francisco band, Neither/Neither World for a few years randomly (usually) via a few random mp3’s or online radios before this CD appeared in my mailbox back in 2005. NNW is the brainchild of one, Wendy Van Dusen (voice, guitar and bass) and she’s been releasing music under this banner since the late 80’s. I’ve seen NNW compared to artists like The Creatures, Mazzy Star, Current 93 and Death in June, which is a pretty mixed bag, and honestly before popping this CD in my stereo I wasn’t sure what to expect.

The sound of, ‘Invisible Angel is that of an apocalyptic folk variety with a little bit of a pop-ish sentiment plus Wendy’s cute lead vocals, acoustic guitars, percussion, atmospheric synths and occasionally instruments like piano or the harmonica make an appearance. Wendy’s vocals remind me of Rose McDowall of Current 93/Strawberry Switchblade fame since they've got that playful adolescent spirit to them with a little bit of a Southern drawl, which is interesting and different to my ears at least.

‘Ghosts Whispers’ is one of the better songs on the album with very infectious light guitar and beautiful piano alongside Wendy’s voice that holds a strong melancholy emotion, whilst, 'Postcards' also has a very similar vibe, but with an oddly sounding echoing harmonica in the background. I also really like the atmospheric instrumental, ‘Shadow of the Wings’ which for some reason kind of reminds of The Cure’s, 'Disintegration,' while the title track, ‘Invisible Angel’ sounds very Death in June influenced all the way. The fourth song, 'Buried and Gone' is one of the oddities on this album and the only song that differs from the acoustic style since it’s more dark rock sounding reminding me somewhat of Gothic artists of the 80’s that have long past.

However I’ll knock off the name dropping and just simply get to the point and say that the whole album is quite outstanding. The musicianship is excellent, the songs have a steady flow, catchiness and atmosphere to them and everything about the album is enthusiastic and pretty much perfectly performed. My only complaint would have been to move, ‘Buried and Gone’ to the end of the album since it’s so different, but that’s just me I guess.

This is the only album I've heard from Neither/Neither World, but I definitely dig it and usually end up asking myself why I haven't hunted down their other releases.

So, if you’ve ever thought about the idea of female fronted apocalyptic folk music than Neither/Neither World’s, 'Invisible Angel' is the one to go with.