Novo Amor - Utican

September 10, 2018

Novo Amor has unveiled the official video for his new single ‘Utican’. The track is the latest to be taken from his forthcoming debut album ‘Birthplace’, to be released on 19th October via AllPoints. Much like the video for the album’s title track - which seeks to address the monolithic problem of plastic in our oceans and was awarded Independent Video of the Year at the AIM Awards earlier this week - the storyline for the ‘Utican’ video also centres on a topical and emotional issue, befitting of the cinematic nature of Novo Amor’s music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Ali Lacey (Novo Amor) with the AIM Award 2018 for "Independent video of the year"

 
"An incredibly powerful and poignant message" The Independent
"The Birthplace video made me cry... extraordinary" Mary Anne Hobbs, BBC 6 Music
"Beautifully epic” Line Of Best Fit
"Communicates deep emotion with the simplest form” Press Play OK
"Some of the most beautiful (music) that currently exists on this planet" Earmilk
“A rare find and rarer still for the way the video complements the song.” Gods In The TV
"Something really special, (Birthplace is) surely one of the best videos of the year so far.” Promo News
"Beautiful" Lauren Laverne (BBC 6 Music)
"Lovely" Radcliffe & Maconie (BBC 6 Music)
"Beautiful" Phil Taggart (BBC R1)
"Trembling, spectral beauty" MOJO
"A work of rare beauty" The Sun
"Novo Amor is a NEW LOVE of mine" Greg James, BBC Radio 1
“We’ve rarely felt this way about a singer-songwriter” Drowned In Sound
"A supernatural sense of peace permeates every track he touches" Consequence Of Sound
"Like many around the world, we were blown away by the beauty and power of the Birthplace video" Plastic Oceans 

 

Speaking about the ‘Utican’ video concept in more detail, director Ethan Graham shares:
“It’s a culmination of meanings - from a young boy’s realisation of looming adulthood and sexuality, to he and his father coming to terms with the loss of his mother. His memory of her is slowly deteriorating and the only way he can hold onto this is by wearing her dresses and applying her make-up the way she used to when he was a little boy.
“It’s an emotive coming-of-age story that nurtures a masculine relationship in a beautifully delicate way.”

Lyrics:
Hear that?
Oh my god, I’ll fill the coffee over!
Tear out
all my love until my blood runs sober.

Oh, let me down,
my body’s sinking, I can feel it now.
Oh, hear me out,
I’ve been thinking I won’t stick around.

See that?
Oh my god, I think we lost control!
Feel that?
Don’t mind me, I won’t be here for long.

So please don’t tell me now,
I swore it for you once and it gets me down,
so please don’t tell me now.

Oh, get me out!
My body’s shaking, but I don’t fear it now.
I’ll sing it out, thank god you’re shrinking, ‘cause I won’t be around.
So I would take a bow!

Expanding on the thoughts behind the song itself, Novo Amor shares:
"Musically, Utican represents a proud, celebratory realisation that you don’t need something in your life. You are no longer a resident of your past.
The name 'Utican' refers to the idea of becoming a resident of Utica, a place in which I’ve spent a fair bit of time and started to feel at home. Utica is more of a metaphor for that time of my life, rather than the actual place."

Working from this home studio, Novo Amor - the moniker of Welsh singer-songwriter and multi instrumentalist Ali Lacey - has received acclaim for a catalogue of beautiful and melancholic songs which have the ability to effortlessly transport the listener to another realm. On ‘Birthplace’, the sounds of his home bleed in - the distant chatter of a party across the street, Bonfire Night fireworks, the seagulls that congregate on the building site next door. Even the sound of the late-night recording hours Lacey kept to avoid the sounds of construction seem to make their presence felt: “I think there’s something calming about working at night,” he says. “You can focus on smaller details and sounds.”

Marking the release of his debut album, Novo Amor will embark on a full band tour of the UK, mainland Europe, and North America throughout October and November. As a
follow on from the issues raised in the ‘Birthplace’ video, Lacey has teamed up with two UK charities - Julie's Bicycle and Energy Revolution - to limit the environmental impact of his shows. The aim of working with these charities is to minimise waste at shows and balance fuel consumption & Co2 emissions. A self-applied 'pollution tax' will be used to generate clean, renewable energy through projects such as wind power generation and reforestation in India.

NOVO AMOR INTERNATIONAL TOUR DATES:
Tue 16 Oct - Gorilla, Manchester, UK
Wed 17 Oct - Saint Luke's, Glasgow, UK
Fri 19 Oct - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds UK
Sat 20 Oct - The Haunt, Brighton, UK
Mon 22 Oct - Union Chapel, London, UK
Tue 23 Oct - Union Chapel, London, UK
Wed 24 Oct - La Maroquinerie, Paris, FR   
Thu 25 Oct - Kulturhaus Karlstorbahnhof, Heidelberg, DE
Sat 27 Oct - Vega, Copenhagen, DK
Sun 28 Oct - Kagelbanan, Stockholm, SE
Tue 30 Oct - Botanique Orangerie, Brussels, Belgium BE
Wed 31 Oct - Paradiso Noord, Amsterdam, NL
Thu 1 Nov - Gruenspan, Hamburg DE
Fri 2 Nov - Funkhaus Berlin Nalepastrasse, Berlin DE
Mon 12 Nov - Atlanta GA, US
Wed 14 Nov - Union Stage, Washington DC, US
Thu 15 Nov - Bowery Ballroom, New York NY, US
Sat 17 Nov - The Sinclair, Cambridge MA, US
Tue 20 Nov - Theatre Farimount, Montreal, CA
Wed 21 Nov - Velvet Underground, Toronto, CA
Fri 23 Nov - Lincoln Hall, Chicago IL, US
Sat 24 Nov - Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis MN, US
Tue 27 Nov - Bluebird Theater, Denver CO, US
Wed Nov 28 - The Commonwealth Room, Salt Lake City UT, US
Fri 30 Nov - St. James Hall, Vancouver, CA
Sat 1 Dec – Columbia City Theater, Seattle WA US
Sun 2 Dec - Doug Fir Lounge, Portland OR, US
Tue 4 Dec - Swedish American Hall, San Francisco CA, US
Thu 6 Dec - Lodge Room, Los Angeles CA, US

Tickets for all dates are on sale now from Novo Amor’s official website here:
https://www.novoamor.co.uk/tour

Pre-order ‘Birthplace’ here: https://novoamor.lnk.to/birthplace

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