Ara Nova – Ara Nova

Ara Nova
Ara Nova
1985 (no label)

Side 1:

1. Glory to the Lord
2. Even When Your Wrong
3. White Dove
4. Face of God
5. Let It Shine

Side 2:

1. Borrowed Time
2. Morning Sky
3. Two Hearts
4. Because of You
5. Light of the Lord

I had kind of hoped by the front cover that this might be an 80s new wave or even AOR release. The first song is more of a medieval-tinged choral pop number. No credits on this tape, but it sounds like there is a full choir and orchestra backing this track. The rest of the songs drop the medieval and choral influences for most mellow pop and pop rock. Male and female vocals trade off lead and background vocals. Multiple stringed instruments and horns back up the piano, bass guitar, and drum driven music. I don’t know if I ever hear electric guitar and very little acoustic guitars (occasional background picking in the slower songs). There are several ballads as well. So this is a mellow album, which many people like – I just don’t know a lot about this genre overall.