A split becomes a fusion as Noveller and unFact grow closer

Noveller/unFact, Bleached Valentine (Saffron/Ox-Ghost Recordings)

Sarah Lipstate is Noveller. She plays guitar. She is also a filmmaker and occasional contributor to the bands Cold Cave and Parts & Labor, but that is neither here nor there. David Wm. Sims is unFact. He plays bass guitar. He also played bass guitar for a number of bands including, most notably, the Jesus Lizard. But that, too, is neither here nor there.

Though the process by which they make their music is similar — both soloists build full-bodied and densely textured pieces through the use of multiple effects pedals, and especially, looped passages — Noveller and unFact are very different projects. But the difference is deeper than She’s a she and he’s a he, or she plays guitar and he plays bass. The outcomes of their like processes are distinct.

Noveller has heretofore been the more texturally-minded of the two. June’s Desert Fires is a patient, thoughtful collection of hums, buzzes, chimes and drones punctuated by delicate semi-melodic clusters of notes. Lipstate’s August EP, Beneath The Basin, is often harsher, and certainly bolder in its timbres. It’s less about patient, layered guitar whispers, and more melodically inclined, even as it delves into more abrasive textures, as well.

Sims’ work as unFact has, until recently, been confined to the two sides of his Dead Wasp 7-inch. That brief introduction featured lush tones — lots of delay and soft distortion, some shrill horror movie scrapes, and organ-like resonance — employed to complement melodic ideas that unfold slowly, repetitiously and meditatively.

But together, as we find them on the split LP, Bleached Valentine, Noveller and unFact are of the same spirit. Their unique characteristics still distinguish A-side from B; their differences are hardly rendered moot. But here, it sounds as if the two artists have grown closer, sonically.

As Lipstate employs more and more melodic flourish to her pieces — note the meandering, melancholy and vaguely Eastern offerings tucked into “Happiness Can’t Make You Happy” — she becomes a more compelling artist. Her texture-heavy pieces are evocative and immersive, but the melodic counterpoints she adds to the atmosphere here offer new shades to the expansive sound, even framing vague narratives in the paired movements of melodic wanderings and textural sculpture.

Likewise, as Sims further embraces the atmospheric elements of his instrument, the songs seem less about melodic momentum and cyclical repetition and modulation, and more about an organic start-to-finish presentation. The trilled melody — somewhat akin to black metal’s shrill guitars — first heard a minute and 18 seconds into “Hard World For Little Things” wouldn’t be nearly as interesting or provide nearly as much contrast as it does set against its dense, buzz-and-hum backdrop.

Most interesting, though, is the way the two sides congeal, making this less a split than a fusion. As each artist draws their sound closer to the other’s, the result is a more complementary package for the listener — and, to date, the best output from either Noveller or unFact.