Melancholic yet hopeful just about sums up ENOLA’s “All Is Forgiven” EP. Initially an electronic producer and DJ, non-binary artist Ruby Marshall explores a larger sound within their newest project ENOLA.
Taking charge of a full-band sound Marshall is able to dip into many different sounds and genres throughout this EP. Channelling the moodiness of Joy Division and Depeche Mode with the biting vocals ripped from the likes of IDLES. This EP urges or rather forces you to listen to what they are trying to communicate, whether that be about a personal struggle, calling out politicians or reminiscing on their childhood.
Growing from their background in music production, Marshall felt it was time to take on the challenge of creating music for a band, taking on backing musicians and using the vehicle that ENOLA is to wrestle their longest held pain, wounds and anxieties. Evidently in the six tracks that comprise the “All Is Forgiven” EP, an electronic influence weaves between each track, Marshall comments, “I feel like I’m really interested in getting the recordings and then kind of fucking with them — like getting drums and really distorting them, or getting a guitar to sound like a synth and a synth like a guitar. Even when I’m writing, I always write a breakdown instead of a bridge, and I approach the structure of songwriting more like I would be producing an electronic track.”
The first track, “Strange Comfort,” began as an electronic track, and elements of that can still be felt throughout, yet aspects of the track like the reverberating guitar and looming bass give the song a new wave feeling, which pairs perfectly with Marshall’s brash vocals and upfront Patti Smith-esque poetic lyrics.
However, there are also moments of softness in this EP, Tracks like “Hurt” and “Miss You,” focus on themes of human love and vulnerability. Slowing down in the latter of the two, Marshall switches to a monotonous croon like something from a Mazzy Star song, which creates a strange dichotomy of the shimmery and light guitars with the vocals that feel like when you have a pit in your stomach.
Finding a place for themselves somewhere in the massively overpopulated post-punk biome is no easy task, yet ENOLA has managed to do that. A potent mix of heightened drama and grimy reality, “All Is Forgiven” delivers an important message that begs to be heard.
ENOLA: All Is Forgiven EP – Out 3rd November 2023 (Our Golden Friend)
Meg is a proud Mancunian and Music Journalist. She started out by writing press releases for bands in her free time, but now runs her own website Dyrti which she plans to expand in the near future. She loves Lester Bangs and Tony Wilson and has interviewed bands such as Cabbage, Oceans On Mars and Adult Cinema. You will more often than not find her somewhere in the Northern Quarter.
