"You May Already Be Dreaming" is the third full-length release from Neva Dinova. While they are well known among their Omaha contemporaries, their music has yet to reach a wide audience. Though they boast the same quality listeners have come to expect from Omaha based bands (i.e. The Good Life, Cursive, Bright Eyes), their music is less wide spread.
It is really quite a shame that more people do not know about Omaha's best-kept secret! While their latest album may have been self-recorded in an empty warehouse, it in no way takes away from the richly textured poetics of front-man Jake Bellows or the bands masterful use of melody to create a melancholy sound. The album is beautiful simplicity and may be their best effort to date.
Neva Dinova: An Emotive Band From an Emotive City
Neva Dinova is a brilliant band that is not above sitting down at the local bar with a 40oz Miller High Life they've snuck in and sipping it out of a classy paper bag. They are gritty; they are real; they are emotive people with the ability to touch the hearts of many a drunken romantic. This is the kind of band that will come have a beer with the audience because they are about the music and fans instead of being about money and corporate greed.
Band members include Jake Bellows, Tim Haes, Heath Koontz, Mike Kratky and Roger Lewis. They rose from the cornfields and barroom floors in the early ninety's and have been writing evocative Indie rock since then. It has been 3 years since the bands' last album, "The Hate Yourself Change", was released.
Why the long lull? Bellows decided to re-work some of the songs on the album and during this process the band lost equipment in a studio flood...not to mention the fact that Bellows lost hearing in one of his ears due to a bar brawl. It was a long hard road to get "You May Already Be Dreaming" recorded and released, but it was certainly worth the wait.
Neva Dinova Evolves and Comes Full Circle
"You May Already Be Dreaming" is much in the style of previous Neva Dinova albums, what with the marriage of melodic poetry and heartfelt guitar lines, but this album really comes full circle.
The album boasts slow Indie induced gems like "Clouds" and "Tryptophan" while also changing it up a bit with tracks like "Apocolypse" and "Super Computer". Whether the mellow guitar lines or the angry reverb takes charge, this album is well rounded and darkly melodic. There is no filler material on this album; each track deserves a good listen. Listen to it from start to finish and get wrapped in the blanket that is Bellows' voice and let the jaded rhythms tuck you in.
With lyrics like, "I've been dying for a year and ten days, I've been dying for years trying to drown myself in tears " and "It's so hard to love your body from the ground", who could pass up this otherworldly peek into the hearts and mind of a brilliant man and a vastly talented band?
This album shows you the pains of real life; it lets people know they are not alone in their struggle to survive everyday life. It does what any great album should; it takes you in, enraptures you and leaves you wanting more.
Other Articles On Indie Music By Jessica Gleason
- How To Discern Between Indie and Emo Music: The Great Debate
- Who's Who In Indie Music: A Guide For Those Looking To Expand Their Musical Horizons
