London-based Japanese voice artist Hatis Noit recently announced her debut album Aura and shared the spellbinding title track. She continues to keep us enthralled with the second glimpse of the record, “Angelus Novus”, which means “New Angel” in Latin and is named after a monoprint by the artist Paul Klee, which appears in the German philosopher Walter Benjamin’s essay “Angel of History”. Noit says:
“When I wrote this song, I remembered this image of an angel flying against the rough winds of history, which resonated very strongly with me in regards to both personal and social struggles. The song has a very intimate, introverted outro as I wanted it to end with a place of healing.”
While we know that Noit has a vocal ability that could easily be described as angelic, she begins “Angelus Novus” by layering her more guttural lower register, bringing an air of strain – like “flying against the rough winds of history”, as she describes. Before long she opens up her lungs completely and lets out something akin to a war cry – beautiful, terrifying and utterly compelling. We soon get to hear more of her angelic, operatic vocal abilities too, blossoming out across the more rugged vocal loops she’s created previously. Expertly layering them all together, Noit creates a vivid image of a human life – wishing to be perfect or angelic, but forever being tethered to the ground by life’s innumerable complications. It’s a deeply moving piece.
The AI-generated video for “Angelus Novus” deepens the experience even further. Check it out below or find the song on streaming platforms.
Aura comes out on June 24 through Erased Tapes (pre-order/save) You can find Hatis Noit on Bandcamp and Instagram.
