Now is the time to catch up with The Novus, if you’re not already whipped up in the hype. With the release of new single I Serve Not, and the announcement of their debut EP Thaleia Standing, they’re out to ensure everybody knows their name. Following last year’s Man On The Bridge, The Novus are almost unrecognisable – MOTB confirmed that they could make an bloody infectious bop, but I Serve Not is The Novus injected with a fierce sense of purpose and a devastating knack for communicating what they’re about.
Chunky, pulsing bass and a metallic click strike the backbone of I Serve Not set the track off down its unforgiving route. The lyrics sit somewhere between protest song and grimly resolved anti-poetry, stiltedly navigating politicians’ outrageous comments and the band’s own ideologies, all backed up by an instrumental that’s altogether more commanding than many bands get even deep into their discography. Through dizzying density and intent in spades, The Novus make it clear that they’re a voice that can’t be ignored.
Don’t just take our word for it – here’s what Connor (vocals) and Tyla (bass and artist in residence) had to say about I Serve Not.
So, I Serve Not is beyond searing – you’ve mentioned Grenfell and dodgy comments from Jacob Rees-Mogg before, talk us through the whole backstory.
Tyla: Yeah, the Grenfell thing, that’s the ‘run away, run away’ and [Rees-Mogg] saying it’s common sense to do that, but the song is built around that hook of ‘I serve not him who feeds me’. That’s because we come from a very working-class council estate sort of background, so it’s one of those things we constantly talk about. A lot of people try and run from politics, but it’s always around, we have to talk about it. 2019 was the first general election we could have voted in, and we built the song around that. You’ve got the verses being odes to the high streets that are dilapidated because of these people that aren’t serving the purpose they should be, ticking boxes instead of actually caring.
Connor: The latter half of the chorus is more about being together than working for someone. We’re very much of the opinion that if you work together you can achieve a better common goal than working for the person that dictates to you what you should do. Again, it’s just a massive representation of us being frustrated with the system that we live in and the people that are elected to represent us, no not even elected just up the hierarchy, that we get frustrated with.
Tyla: It’s a difficult one to explain cos every line in there has its own meaning, but collectively it’s like, fuck the big people!
The instrumentals are, for lack of a better word, hench. Were you aiming to create such a vivid musical backdrop for your message?
Connor: I wouldn’t say deliberately, but to me, the particular metallic click every beat, that click for me is almost industrial, so industrial to the sense that that represents the song and what it’s about. If you want to look really deep into it, we are all from a deeply working-class background. It roots who we are as people in a song and our views in a song, and it drives an added passion. We usually play it at the start of a set as well, we usually have a monologue as well something that represents us and the time that we’re in, we try and change is as often as we can to keep it relevant, then that click starts playing and sets the scene and the atmosphere for our sets.
Tyla: It’s a good song for us to introduce ourselves!
Connor: Thaleia Standing is our first EP, it’s our first body of work and that’s really scary! I Serve Not is the first track as well, it represents the start of the story of the EP. It represents the start of who we are and we’ve really defined the sound of the EP.
I Serve Not is just the beginning. Thaleia Standing is coming June 18th.
