More about: Tuva Band

Tuvaband’s music finds itself stuck in the middle of a rather bizarre spectrum. On one end, its ethereal nature captures visions of folklore and bright imagination, and on the other, there’s a melancholic darkness, bound up in its own atmosphere, rife with pain, but alarmingly littered with hope. It’s between these two fence posts that Tuvaband’s third album, Growing Pains & Pleasures, finds itself steadfast, and her greatest body of work to date.

Lingering between light and dark, Tuva Hellum Marschhäuser controls this project from start to finish. It is born from her experiences, her emotions, and her wonderfully experimental mind, which all come together to create a soundscape so vast and raw, it’s easy to both lose and find yourself in it. Fueled by changes and a desire to break free of an isolating circle, Tuva’s third album was created.

Album opener ‘Growing Pains’ is a dulcet introduction to Tuva’s newer, hazy sound. Beginning with the layered, lucid murmurs of an unearthly synth, which Tuva’s vocals find themselves effortlessly floating on, guided softly through the song until it reaches its evocative climax.

It is in the juxtaposition between light and dark where this record truly takes off. Where ‘Doomsday’ takes the record in a darker direction, with notes dripping off the instruments like water off a stalactite, ‘Post Isolation’ offers a welcome retreat into the light. Lofty vocals, fused together with an empathic guitar progression create the notion of a new day, one we’re still frightened of, but we’re nearly out of the dark altogether.

“I’m more content than ever” sings Tuva on the dynamic ‘Annie Blackburn’, a track which replicates the darkness of the cult classic TV show Twin Peaks. It discusses the dark places we can often find ourselves trapped in, the ones we really want to escape. It’s a tricky concept to put to music, but Tuva captures this turmoil of emotions perfectly, with poised aplomb.

Elsewhere on the record, Tuva offers vast explosions of much needed noise (‘Blue’), some surprising, and welcome, beachy guitar (‘Irreversible’) and eye openingly swift angelic interludes (‘Serotonin’). It’s sonic escapism for the masses, and there’s plenty to go around.

Growing Pains & Pleasures is a chaotic refuge. As much as it is a place of understanding and peace, it’s also a deep dive into the human psyche, examining how to get from your lowest point, to trying to reach your highest.

Growing Pains & Pleasures arrives 21 May via Passion Flames.

More about: Tuva Band