50. Single Review of The Trembling Waltz by Novelley, featuring Diego Zocco

 Originally Published October 4th, 2024

About the Artist

I'm going to start this review off in the most epic of fashions, with a completely random reference to something most people will not be familiar with: There is an underground alternative rock/rapper named Quadeca, whose music I really get into. In 2022, he released, what I believe is his greatest work, an album called I Didn't Mean to Haunt You. Within that album, there is a song that is entitled fractions of infinity. And within that SONG, there is a line. The line states as follows: "Throw some grain on if you can and that is that. I'm in that space between your hands about to clap." That line has resonated with me ever since I heard it because I thought it was such a profound description. I have found myself observing things, sounds, situations, and analyzing if that line applied to any of them. In order to that, I have to define what it means to me and I think that, what I have found, is it means the calm before a storm, a morning ceasefire. It's living in that moment prior to chaos. That moment lives forever, if only eventually in the past. When I heard Novelley and her song, The Trembling Waltz, I knew I had made the connection.

Novelley, is a German folk singer. She is now the THIRD German folk singer I've reviewed, which begs the question, "What have they got going on over there in Germany??" After John Wallace and Kathi Deakin, I am seeing a legitimate representation of Independent Folk Artists could be a trending thing that is happening in Germany! She has spent time in South America, the States, and the UK, but she does now call Germany home. She grew up in home that was enriched with classical music. She was trained on the piano, as well as participating in choirs and receiving vocal training. When she first began recording music, she was releasing instrumental albums. She would later teach herself how to play string instruments like the guitar and ukulele. It was at this time, she would begin incorporating vocal work into her music. She has performed all over the world, having spent time living in so many places. Now, she finds comfort in her home located in the countryside of Germany, raising her three children, and releasing music for record.

About the Song

"The Trembling Waltz" is a soft folk ballad recorded by Novelly and released on October 4th, 2024. With a runtime of just over 4 minutes, Novelley describes it as a "delicate dance between love and loss," as it examines the fear of losing a loved one to mental illness. She would have a particular keen insight to this as, when she's not making tragically beautiful music and tending to her three children, she somehow manages to find the time to work as a physician in the fields of psychiatry and psychotherapy. Her passion for the field is something that resonates throughout her music and a subject she draws a lot of inspiration from.

About the Music

Musically, "The Trembling Waltz" tiptoes in with an arpeggiated acoustic guitar. Novelley's vocal part comes in shortly afterwards, sung in half whisper. She takes us through the first verse, then a second acoustic part trickles in and out of the accompaniment. Additionally, synthetic soundscapes occupy the space as if it were mist over a field on a cold winter day. 

As the chorus comes in, Novelley incorporates backing vocals; harmonizing over her very quiet chorus. There is also an accompaniment of what sounds like could be a synthetic cello part. It could be organic but I'm not able to confirm. The supported accompaniment continues on into the second verse, as the a piano accompaniment teases it's addition before fully making itself heard in the second verse. 

The bridge of the song takes the tone down to a lower register and incorporates a sadness to an otherwise bright melody. This transitions beautifully into the final chorus where the instrumentation is now on full display providing support to Novelley's vocal performance.

About the Lyrics

Lyrically, Novelley has introduced a very deep and uniquely delivered look into the fear of losing a loved one to mental illness. 

"You look so pale and awfully skinny. In your eyes a tale, too many times I've seen. I want to come by but you're almost never free. Your beautiful mind is a monster at times that wants to be set free." The narrator is speaking to the subject as if they are drawn to them to a point that scares them. The narrator is conveying their own vulnerabilities being susceptible to the subject's.

"Out on your porch, you're back with cigarettes. And you talk and talk with no stop while you light your next. I don't want to lie but I think you've got it bad. Your reasoning here is in outer spheres I want to follow but I can't." This sounds very personal. It sounds so vivid, I would wage a guess that it derives from a memory or an experience. The detail that Novelley shares really puts us in the narrator's frame of thought. 

"Don't go too far, I'm scared you might not want to come back to me." I think this is the narrator's way of addressing a recurring pattern of mental illness with the subject. A pattern the narrator has witnessed before. The narrator is alluding to a progression of fear as they are observing the subject seems to delve deeper and deeper into this state of mind. The narrator is realizing that it will eventually be too much.

It was at this moment, I realized that Novelley was speaking of "the space between your hands about to clap." The narrator is left in a perpetual state of anxiety over fear of the subject's mental state. 

Lyrically, this is one of the best songs I've ever reviewed. It may be one of the best I've heard period. Novelley has done her job extraordinarily well. 

Final Thoughts

Novelley has released an incredibly vulnerable song here. The emotional depth and honesty that she has brought forth into this album is comparable to that of Tales of a Failed Altruist by Han, an Artist I reviewed at the end of August and had the privilege of interviewing last month. It takes a great deal to overcome the fear of introducing that kind of vulnerability into one's music. Novelley has realized that, fear aside, it is a necessary process that can bring an audience in to listen so that they may hear what she has to say.

Furthermore, her unique perspective as a professional in the medical field of psychiatrics incorporates such a tenderness to the subject. A tenderness that seems to be considerate of the subject with the delivery of every lyric, with the strength behind every pull of every string throughout the entire guitar accompaniment. The entire piece is orchestrated in a way that seems to say, "You can trust me." It is real, it is compelling, and it is wonderful.

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