Review: The Northern Belle clean out cobwebs and ‘Bats in the Attic’ on new album

The Northern Belle are transient beings, gliding through the cosmos to find meaning and purpose in life. “I pray to a higher power / They have nothing left to devour,” sings Stine Andreassen in one of the album’s most haunting moments (“Higher Power”). That perilous, all-consuming thread needles throughout the record and practically pricks the skin, drawing blood. On Bats in the Attic, life and death circle center stage like so many tigers galavanting through their routines in a Ringling Circus. A weariness emanates from Andreassen’s performances, so much so that the listener bears the tremendous weight as they witness their reflection mirrored back in startling detail.

Andreassen ripped passages from 379 letters her grandfather wrote to her grandmother while stationed abroad. That emotional core radiates outward, leaving traces throughout the album, lingering like dust particles forever at the mercy of the sun’s sharp rays. “Even Dylan Can’t Make This Right” feels as though Andreassen has peeled back the outer layer of her heart, a membrane that still throbs with the fragility of human existence. Those dark shadows accentuate the brightness the album also cultivates. There’s a tender balance at work; it’s necessary to have both. “I would have carried your burden so you can be free,” she sings with tangy suppleness.

Bats in the Attic is also concerned with genre play. It’s at times dipped in indie pleasure (“Our Own Frequency”) with a veneer that shimmers in the light. Other times, there’s a frenetic rock static (“Fresh Dew Drippin'”) that crackles and pops in the eardrums. Then, there’s the case of their caramel-rich Nordicana style that sticks to the roof of your mouth like taffy. “Treat Yourself Better” is a free wheelin’ travelin’ tune, while “Star Gazer” pulses with a suffocating intimacy that massages the heartstrings.

There’s nary an emotion squandered across 11 songs, allowing the listener to travel the world and see what it means to live and die free. Bats in the Attic is among The Northern Belle’s finest offerings, nearly matching 2020’s We Wither, We Bloom project, and its brilliance lies in the minuscule details and the way Andreassen flips a lyric and lets her tears fall across the instruments. It’s not often you get a band as consistent, so treasure ’em while we’ve got ’em, I say!

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