Merlynn Belle: Psychedelic-Rock meets Indie-Folk in new Tele Novella LP

Texas-bred musicians Natalie Ribbons and Jason Chronis (formerly bassist of Voxtrot) came together as an impromptu group of four friends to create Tele Novella during the run up to South by Southwest in 2013; well-received on the stage, they released an EP soon afterwards “Cosmic Dial Tone” and their first album in 2016 “House of Souls”. Increasingly popular for their distinctive breed of a dreamily-sung indie pop, psychedelic rock and contemporary folk fusion, their February 5th release of Merlynn Belle has been eagerly anticipated for years. 

On the creation of their new album, Natalie Ribbons says:

“It was truly invigorating. We weren’t entirely positive that the band would continue on after suffering from severe burnout after releasing the previous record. The process we used making this one was so simple and understated that it made recording humble and approachable again. We used a Tascam cassette 8-track and also recorded each song completely from beginning to end instead of layering a body of songs from the rhythm section up, as we had before. Each song had a moment, a tiny snow globe of inspiration and it really felt like making art again.”

The band, now a duo and signed to Kill Rock Stars, have created several music videos in the weeks coming up to their album release: 

And on putting together the video for “Words That Stay”, Natalie Ribbons says:

“Some of our favorite movies happened to take place in time periods where the actors donned white wigs, such as ‘Barry Lyndon’ and the film ‘Amadeus.’ The video was largely inspired by those two films and we knew we found the perfect location to shoot it after staying at a historic bed and breakfast in Gonzales, Texas called ‘Belle Oaks Mansion.’  So many antiques and pastel colors, it was perfect!”

All of their videos run along the same strain of off-beat, slightly absurd delight that comes with the lofi, western melodies and Ribbon’s enchanting, sweetly-toned voice. 

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