Ever-shifting Brooklynites Ava Luna are back with a new track that displays their distinct brand of versatility. “Billz” opens with a nearly opaque wall of sound before sliding into their could-be trademarked spacey soul-tinged verses, in which guitars and keyboards compete to see which can be more elusive and impactful. The track explores this interplay between quiet and loud and like much of Ava Luna’s prior work, the middle ground that it leads to is more fruitful than either end of the spectrum alone. Their math-gospel hybrid has consistently revolved around this tension, and indeed the quintet nearly always manages to stick the landing. In the chorus, when vocalists Felicia Douglass and Rebecca Kauffman enter, there is little one can do to avoid recognizing “Billz” as a standout track in a catalogue already full of intricate work. Like “Clips” and “Sears Roebuck M&M’s” from their prior album Electric Balloon, the beauty of Ava Luna comes from the details that support the big ideas; the smallest guitar spurts are all geared towards enhancing the effect of the crescendos. This is no different on “Billz”, and by the time singer Carlos Hernandez is asking us “who’s gonna pay my bills?”, it seems like a tempting offer to take him up on.
Ava Luna’s third LP, Infinite House, will be released on April 14 via Western Vinyl. You can stream “Billz” below.
