Neva Dinova
You May Already Be Dreaming
Saddle Creek (2008)

The Omaha-based Americana band Neva Dinova has a country sound that comes across more in attitude than in twang. On the group's latest release, "You May Already Be Dreaming," Hank Williams's melancholy drips from singer Jake Bellows's lips on "Will the Ladies Send You Flowers."

Most of the songs barely hit the three-minute mark, but Neva Dinova never rushes. Although such a steady pace has its disadvantages (the middle third of the album stalls with its sameness), the mellower vibe allows the songs to breathe and grow. In particular, "Supercomputer" benefits from the slow treatment, as the group's attention to detail highlights its subtle humor ("We're starting to need you/Them zeros can't cut it") and the haunting harmonies that accent key words in Bellows's a cappella verse.

-- Catherine P. Lewis

.: Originally published: The Washington Post: 9 May 2008, Page WE07
.: You May Already Be Dreaming on Amazon.com.

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