Barcelona-born newcomer Gisela Fulla-Silvestre — known as NOIA — showed us her knack for structural, atmospheric dream pop earlier this month when she debuted “Nostalgia del Futuro,” a balmy preview of her forthcoming EP Habits. Today, she’s adding another masterfully layered gem to her repertoire with “Love Hack,” a fragile labyrinth of tangled synths and woozy vocals that twist together without ever seeming too jumbled.
Her voice is breathy and gossamer here (we get a bit of an airy Casey Dienel vibe), providing a refined counterpoint that emphasizes the song’s slinkier dark groove. As in her previous track, NOIA somehow makes “Love Hack” seem sparse and vaporous, even though each new listen exposes some hidden beat the Brooklyn-based musician quietly planted in the numerous folds of the piece. She studied film scoring and sound design at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, and her technical finesse shines through most when a choir of barley there new wave synths reveal themselves and carry the song to an unexpectedly urgent ending. It’s an effortless transition that keeps the production from feeling too ethereal and obvious, and it takes things to a rich, cosmic place.
The result is slick and artful – yet another example that NOIA knows what she’s doing. Keep an ear out for her Cascine debut on October 14; it’ll be the one with all the layers. She’s also playing her EP release show at Trans-Pecos in Brooklyn on October 13. Purchase tickets here.