(P)in(k)vitation to Hold

Secret Voice doing something a little different again here, I like it. Newmoon are a band from Belgium, and I believe the band members had something to do with Midnight Souls. They certainly ain't sounding like that now. They have gone 'soft', but in the best possible way so it's all cool. Secret Voice have currently released 8 7''s, a cassette tape and a zine to my knowledge. That makes ten releases, and not one 12'' or LP to the label's name. But so far everything has been gold and I'm going to love anything Jeremy Bolm (label guy of Secret Voice and singer for Touche Amore) is involved with I guess? Also, this is the first Euro release for the label.

On to the record. Pink vinyl /1000. There is also a Yellow copy on sale, also /1000. This makes up the 1st press. I'll probably buy a 2nd copy of this too, as the artwork is incredible and I feel I'm spinning this copy to death already. Nick Steinhardt artwork too, although the photography is credited to someone else (Giel Torfs - also a member of Newmoon). I have banged on about Nick's design work in the past on this blog, but seriously the dude is incredible. Outside of TA, he has worked on Deafheaven stuff, Balance and Composure album art, the list goes on and on and on. Plus, he has just about the most incredible work ethic, with a real passion and respect for the work he does. See look, I'm fangirling / getting sidetracked again... 

B-Side / Back Cover. As opposed to an insert, all the lyrics and credits are on the back cover. This is cool, but having to rotate the sleeve and follow the text was a bit of a game at first. Plus, I have terrible eyesight and can't follow anything unless it's black text on a white background essentially. It looks really great though, and I love that the artwork runs thematically through the whole release. Oh, another cool thing; all the 7'' releases from Secret Voice have the same centre label layout (to my knowledge). The font and circular graphic around the label is on every Secret Voice 7'' I own; obviously with different text and patterns or colour schemes. I'm a sucker for house style too, and stuff like this really makes a label stand out in my eyes. 

Close up of the centre label and colourway, look at how pink that pink is! Also, just another quick design detail I nearly missed; the inside of the sleeve is pink. I'm assuming this was the work of Steinhardt, as it goes well with the colour scheme, and a similar thing was done with Is Survived By (covered quite a few posts back). If I buy another copy, I'll keep you updated, and I really am loving this more and more with each listen. 

SV008v