A band one day popped up and sent me a letter telling me they were Nurvis and they wanted in on a compilation I've been putting together. These
individuals were Paul Nurminen (synthesizer wizard fella) and Susan Orvis (charming blessed singer). Anyway- they wrote a nice letter, and I thought
I'd check them out.

Soon after Nurvis thought it appropriate to let me review this CD for them - and I am very glad they did! This stuff is very darn good! OK let me run
through a little of their history.

Nurvis have a sound not unlike Blind Before Dawn, Anything Box, Depeche Mode, Paris By Air et al. But what is even better is that they can balance
the dark and the light beautifully! The songs on this album range from the very pop "Out of Hand" (which is where the Anything Box comparison would be most appropriate) then they can almost sound like Madonna's darkest moodiest moments with "I'm Sorry". This probably comes from the band having a very varied influence of artists from female pop artists to New Order and 80's music which is wonderfully presented with good production and no overkill of vocal "over production" -preferring to keep the vocals of Susan Orvis to be as minimally effected as possible (and still managing to sound excellent!!)

"Out Of Hand" is nice and poppy and probably is the song on the album that would appeal most to synthpop followers, a catchy bass line that makes you bounce around, blippy bleeps a la New Order shining through etc. It's quite uncanny that they can pull off a happy song like this when compared with the majority of the rest of the album that is potently brooding in some degree of negative beauty.

My personal favourite on this album has to be "I'm Sorry" -this song's instrumentation is totally gorgeous! Angelic vocal harmonies interlaced with
emotive saw waves carry the tune competently, more darkwave than goth though, flawless vocal deliverance from Susan with this song. She really
comes across as a more interesting Madonna with quite an amazing voice, the vibrato on her voice helps carry the harmonic performance with Nurvis, and I feel Susan can actually SING rather than whine! unlike so many of those awful goth girl singers who just sound like beached whales.

After another moody song in "Missing" (again reminding me of Madonna) comes a rather pissed song in the form of "Squish, Squish". I have to say that Susan Orvis' lyrics strike me as being extremely personal rather than writing for the sake of it. All I can say about these lyrics are: Parental Advisory. Yes -make sure your children don't get a hold of the lyric book with this album. Hearing songs about squashing a fat   hairy bug of a man may be a wee bit too much for them! The feeling of this track harkens more back to early new wave a la Berlin I'm happy to say. Terri Nunn would be happy that the sound lives on in a band like Nurvis. Though Nurvis are far from plagiarists.

Our next track up is a bit of a more experimental track in "In The Stars" with a running commentary about astrology ( I guess) and a funkier bass line
than is prevalent in the other songs on this CD.

"A Certain Look" slips back a little into the feeling of "I'm Sorry" with some really beautiful melodies from Susan's backing vocals. The range and quality of professional deliverance in Madame Orvis' vocals is truely stunning and could put a crock of tripe like so many of these shitty girl
bands to shame. Definitely a compliment from a guy who is really uninspired by many of the "safe" and "nice" female singers that bore me to death. The top 40 sort of junk. Though Susan could easily blow a lot of that junk away, she also has the right feel and attitude to slip into a darker sound too. Which is always good as dark is my thing.

And let us not forget Paul who writes such pleasing sonets of the ebony and ivory boards. Good tight programming , imaginative ideas and a sentiment of professionalism is abound in all the songs on this CD.

A more pop feel with the song "Warm Eyes" - nice and boppy. But something that I feel Nurvis aren't as happy with as they are in brooding about the
darker side of music.

And finally we have the "Out Of Hand" (Dream mix) which hangs on the ambient side of things. Which provides more focus on the vocals, and that incredibly strong vibrato that demands attention and credit from the listener. A good change from the more "traditional" pop feel of the original.

A very strong first release by a very nice band who promise so much more with their upcoming 2nd release (I've heard a few tracks and they are
magic!). Here's hoping that Nurvis are around for some time to come. I for one am looking forward to the next album.

Well presented debut from a promising duo.

"Somewhere in the fields of synthpop and darkwave, new and different ideas are being born. It's simply amazing how anyone supported by [older
technology like] Ensoniq EPS and Roland D-110s [and JV-880s], for instance, could create such wonderful "babies". Ok, to be honest, plus
Steinberg Cubase Audio. With themes that the masses undeservedly miss out on. New brilliant orphans they say? That's exactly what Nurvis is all about. Two parents of well-thought out songs, that seemingly is the rarest thing ever. Precisely balanced all the way from the start to the very core. Still musically young, Paul and Susan do their best in the form of music that remains not soon forgotten. Female-fronted vocals, [reminiscent of] precious siren-like opera divas but with a minor falsetto that never spoils the whole impression. A little bit of vocoderized embedding here and there make it even better. And the technically fat-layered [musical] structures are almost perfect (not 100% though, which leaves some targets to reach in the future). Generally, the whole record is a monopoly of interesting harmonies, sounds and lyrics. There's a hope that Larry Tee and Freezepop already had a chance to give Nurvis a shot because it seems Nurvis would surely give them some real odds."

"The pace slows with a bit of haunting synth-pop from NURVIS. Female vocals are drenched in reverb as percussion and synths bob in and out of the song. The vocals carry the melody, and are sung with exceptional restraint. This is worth checking out."