Novanta – Hello We’re Not Enemies [2016; Seashell Records]

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Seven tracks of mellow and dreamy synthpop with a bit of shoegaze flavoring, built on scintillating slow-drift tone layering, drum loops, falsetto vocals, and little keyboard doot-doots.  The atmosphere-building is done well, the layer-stacking feels organic, and the minor side-melodies stay playful, but on the down-side, the detached vibes end up making the (mini-)album as a whole feel thrown together, with the more sorrowful moods of the later tracks feeling like a hard turn from the first half’s starry-eyed giddiness.  Rough in execution, but successful with its emotional expressiveness despite that.