339 fans
It’s a new chapter in the history of Neva Dinova. Although the band are beloved by many, they’ve never had the same name recognition as their Omaha-bred peers and collaborators like Bright Eyes and Cursive. However that’s likely to change with the band’s reinvigorating new full-length Canary, which features a new lineup, fresh perspective and a sound that’s more urgent than anything they’ve created in the past. Neva Dinova frontman Jake Bellows has been consistently making music since the band’s self-titled debut was released 22 years ago—and has released music under his own name, including 2013’s excellent New Ocean—but he’s always stayed out of the spotlight, largely eschewing television, cultural trends and social media. While there was talk of reactivating Neva Dinova pre-pandemic, the catalyst ended up being an offer from Cursive to support them on tour last year in support of the 20th anniversary of their landmark album Domestica.
“Initially I said no because we didn’t have a band at that point,” Bellows explains, adding that at the time the only members able to participate were him and longtime Neva Dinova drummer, Roger Lewis, who also plays in The Good Life. “[Cursive frontman] Tim [Kasher] asked what I needed and I said, ‘A bass player, two guitar players and a van,” Bellows explains. While this seemed like an unrealistic request for most bands, Kasher suggested that Cursive’s cello player Megan Siebe could play bass and volunteered himself and Ted Stevens to play guitar, both of whom had always been interested in playing in Neva Dinova. All of a sudden, they had a band. “Basically he removed all my barriers of entry and so I was like, ‘All right, let’s do it’ and immediately I wanted to play new songs,” Bellows explains.
In that spirit, he immediately started sending demos to Lewis and Siebe and they began performing new songs live alongside fan favorites such as “Jesus’ Choir.” “I think after the fourth or fifth show, Megan was like, ‘I just want to be in the band,’” Bellows says—and the latest incarnation of Neva Dinova as a trio was born. After an East Coast run, the band returned to Omaha to record Canary at Make Believe Studios. “I’m trying to cover a lot more space in the band now because there’s only one guitar, so I write a little differently in order to cover that space.” (An understatement considering the previous lineups of the band featured three guitarists.) The result is an album that is more focused while still allowing for the occasional Neil Young-inspired guitar solo or unexpected sonic flourish. While previous Neva Dinova albums such as 2008’s You May Already Be Dreaming were labored on in the studio, the songs on Canary were honed on the road allowing for a largely live recording session that captures the visceral energy of the band.
From the fuzzed-out grandeur of “Edge of Something” to the syncopated groove of their cover of Carlton and the Shoes’ “Never Let Go” and electronica/hip-hop accents on “I Can See Further Now,” the album sees Neva Dinova stepping out sonically and condensing their songs in powerful blasts of focused energy. As always, the unifying ingredient is Bellows’s distinctive baritone voice as he croons about familiar topics like existential dread and hypocrisy of organized religion in a way that listeners may not have realized had been missing from their lives since You May Already Be Dreaming. “Love and Kindness” is a reference to the ongoing war in Gaza while “Something To Lose” was inspired by the loss of Bellows’s beloved dog, Dragon. “That song is about the idea that maybe you’d rather never love anybody or anything because it’s just another thing to lose and that really resonated with me at the time,” he says of the latter track.
It’s no secret that artists and musicians can be precious about their art and fragile when it comes to their ego, however Bellows has a very different perspective. “When you’re involved in the arts there’s some expectation for you to be smart or know stuff and I don’t want to be that poser anymore,” he admits. However there’s a liberation in that lack of pretense—and even when Bellows is musing about his own limitations in “Near Me,” there’s a beauty in the imperfections: The subtle buzzing of the amp, the finger noise on the strings and Bellows’s voice rising above all of it in a way that’s distinctly Neva Dinova. “I never thought I would get the chance to play again when I went out with Cursive,” Bellows explains when asked what it feels like to be looking back on the 20-year anniversary of Neva Dinova and Bright Eyes’ celebrated collaboration, One Jug of Wine, Two Vessels.
“I was just struck by how much more effective I felt as a person [making this album],” Bellows says, reflecting on his musical career. “Maybe some of the things are a little bit of a sad story, but I think the point is that somebody else might not have to make all of my mistakes.” Canary is a raw and unfiltered glimpse of Bellows’ psyche at that time—and it also marks a second act for one of indie rock’s most underrated acts.
