The Sky – The Novel Ideas The Sky – The Novel Ideas

A Breathe of Fresh Air – The Novel Ideas A Breathe of Fresh Air – The Novel Ideas

Wedding Bells Pt. 2 – The Novel Ideas Wedding Bells Pt. 2 – The Novel Ideas

Cute and catchy. The two words that stuck out in my mind after listening to all 11 songs off the album The Sky is a Field from folk-pop group The Novel Ideas. They have an upbeat, romantic sound to them as heard by the harmonies of Daniel Radin (vocals and guitar) and Jeannie Yoon, who reaches octaves I wouldn’t even dare attempting. Their album, released in 2009, is available for a free download on their MySpace page, so jump on that (click here).

The Sky, the first track off their album, is a love story duet that goes back and forth between the two vocalists.  They combine for a sweet innocent harmony that made me think they were two 16-year-old lovebirds. Just precious! Julian Carax starts off a little weird with a slightly annoying pinging in the background and the minor, dreary melody that follows while A Breath of Fresh Air provides you with just that.  It’s one of the songs of this album that makes me think they’ll be a great catch for a recording label.

Wedding Bells Pt. 1 is a little depressing-sounding to be named such a weighty event, but Pt. 2 picks up the beat although the idea is still depressing: Radin sings, “When I took your hand / it meant that it felt right.” This is reciprocated with Yoon singing, “It’s not that I don’t want to / I just can’t see me with you.”  Yikes, this definitely isn’t the most ideal situation for a wedding day.

The Novel Ideas is from Newton, Massachusetts, and Radin started the band because he wanted to sing with a girl  (as opposed to starting a band to get girls like most do?). He liked writing songs about books rather than girls (weird, I know), and thus the name The Novel Ideas. Their 2007 album Say Hello is also available for free download on their MySpace page. I wouldn’t say I’m absolutely in love with them, but I’m kind of on the road to it. I mean with Yoon’s girly vocals, Tim Cronin’s trumpet-playing skills, Danny Hoshino on the pedal steel guitar, drummer Will Radin’s beats, and the bass skills of Noah Balder, what’s not to love? I give this album a 3/5 bee rating. Hope they get signed! They will begin their first national tour this June.