It's been a minute since we've heard from the playfully skronky New York indie rockers Ava Luna. The band's last album was Moon 2, which came out back in 2018. Ava Luna followed that one with their Pigments EP in 2019, and then that was it for six years. The band went through some changes. Kyle, formerly known as Becca Kauffman, left the group in 2019 and made solo music as Jennifer Vanilla. Singer and multi-instrumentalist Carlos Hernandez made his own solo music as Carlos Truly, and Hernandez and Julian Fader took part in the side project Sweet Dreams Nadine. Also, there was a pandemic and what have you. But now, Ava Luna are finally coming back with a new album.
The new four-piece version of Ava Luna has Felicia Douglass and Carlos Hernandez's vocals up front, with the rhythm section of bassist Julian Fader and drummer Ethan Bassford getting busy on the low end. (All the band members add multiple instruments, but those are their main roles.) Ava Luna's new self-titled LP is coming out next month. For this record, the super-experienced percussionist Larry McDonald joins in on a bunch of songs.
A few weeks ago, Ava Luna released the breezy, casual single "Frame Of Us," and that's on the LP. So is the new single "Lasting Impression," a funky deadpan back-and-forth that evokes memories of Luscious Jackson and Out Hud, two bands that I enjoy remembering. Below, check out the Nathan Bajar-directed "Lasting Impression" video, as well as the "Frame Of Us" clip and the Ava Luna tracklist.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Math Money Job"
02 "Frame Of Us"
03 "Lasting Impression"
04 "Fancy"
05 "Social Diving"
06 "Your Man"
07 "Roof"
08 "Archive"
09 "Tacos El Bronco"
10 "My Walk"
11 "Game Level"
Ava Luna is out 10/3 on Western Vinyl. The band will play a record-release show 10/18 at Brooklyn's National Sawdust.
