Applause of a Distant Crowd
Ruby Pool is a useful measure of VOLA's confidence on Applause of a Distant Crowd. Piano, gently picked guitar and a clear vocal can carry a complete song without waiting for a heavy passage to justify their presence. Its quiet beauty opens another route into the band's music.
That change extends through the album. The low guitars retain their distinctive force, but the arrangements give synthesizers and singing more space to establish each song's character. The result is easier to move through as a whole, with changes of mood that have more purpose than a simple alternation between loud and soft.
Ghosts brings a particularly bright melodic surface. Its electronic colours make the song approachable without removing the unease beneath the tune. Asger Mygind's voice suits this mixture: he can sound reassuring while leaving the emotional meaning less comfortable than the chorus first suggests.
Smartfriend provides the heavier counterweight. Its repeated guitar pattern has a stubborn, almost hostile presence, and the contrast with the vocal works because the two elements occupy different emotional spaces. Whaler also finds strength in repetition, though the physical impact can overshadow some of the finer distinctions between its sections.
Alien Shivers connects the album's different interests most convincingly. The rhythmic movement feels precise and slightly detached, while the melody brings a warmer point of contact. The instruments give each other room, making the chorus feel like a natural opening inside the arrangement. It is a strong song with a sound that remains distinctly its own.
The title track develops that balance on a larger scale. Its shifts have enough melodic continuity to make the development easy to follow, and the sequence benefits from the smaller, quieter Green Screen Mother at the end. The closing restraint leaves a clearer impression than another heavy finale would.
A few passages trade the debut's immediate shock for a more familiar atmospheric glow. That is a reasonable exchange on an album this carefully shaped. Applause of a Distant Crowd reveals how much expressive range VOLA can find when their most recognisable guitar sound becomes one option among several.
