Little Invisibles
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Little Invisibles

Newark, Delaware, United States

Newark, Delaware, United States
Band Alternative Singer/Songwriter

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

Music

Press


"Wildy's World"

"Gina Degnars has been a fixture on the New York and Philadelphia music scenes for a number of years (as well as her native Delaware). The songstress, who studied at Boston's Berklee School Of Music, released an album with her prior band, Stygian Veil back in 2001 (Poison Berries), but has continued to create wonderfully dark and textured piano-based Alt-Rock over the years. In 2009, Degnars was ready for a transition, incorporating more distinctly Pop melodies and electronic beats in her music. This change led to the formation of Little Invisibles, and the release of the band's debut EP, Closer. Preferring minor keys and human frailty to the shallow happiness of modern pop or the cynical boredom of most alt-Rock, Degnars climbs through her existential musical angst to generally find the element of hope that drives us all.

Closer opens with the urgent exhortation of Breathless. The song is part fascination and part mourning; the singer still finds her other enthralling but the feeling is no longer reciprocated. The musical canvas gives a desolate, lost feel, and tension in the vocal line is wholly palpable. What Once Was explores the aftermath of a relationship while still yearning for what was. The emotions here are raw and compelling, and earnestly represented in the stark nature of the instrumentation. Gina Degnar's yearning, mournful voice is full of tragic beauty, emoting both the passion and frustration that drive the song. Not One Of You is a performance that appears ready to come across at the emotional seams at a moment's notice but never disintegrates. Little Invisibles closes with Headrush, with Lance Davis providing Bono-esque vocals alongside Degnars in a starkly beautiful performance that's enthralling and more than a little disturbing.

Gina Degnar's dark side drives the music on Closer; a diluvial outpouring of mixed emotion and angst against esoteric, keyboard-driven compositions. Degnars falls somewhere in the triangle between Tori Amos, Kate Bush and Bjork vocally, drawing a lonely strength from a sublime combination of vulnerability and certainty. Closer is probably destined to be under-appreciated in light of current mores, and unfortunately so. Degnars is a singular talent as both a writer and performer, and Little Invisibles coalesce nicely around the dark clouds of her muse." (Wildy's World) - Wildy's World


"Full Wave Radio"

"Closer is a teaser. It introduces you to the band and it leaves you wanting far more than the five songs it provides you, can offer. You get a taste of Gina’s voice, which makes anyone listening long for chilly October nights, when spirits of love affairs gone past are walking the earth.


The EP opens with “Breathless” a song that’s dark melancholy beauty will leave you just that, breathless. The song deals with a relationships slow demise and the beats and vocals showcase that sadness, that she no longer leaves her lover breathless, perfectly." (full wave radio) - Full Wave Radio


""Lighten Up""

"Stygian Veil has reigned as Delaware’s most unusual original act. And one of its most compelling" - Out and About


"Review"

"Their organic sound is comprised of Gina's gorgeously sweet voice, outrageously infectious melodies, and strong piano work, backed by and equally tight band-their elegance is a breath of fresh air" - murknet.com


"Collected Sounds"

"Stygian Veil's music is like a dark fairy tale. The beauty of the songs are matched by their twisted nature. The powerful imagery in the lyrics is underscored by the dramatic music-deserves attention from the more adventurous listener" - Anna Marie Stjarnell


"NARAS"

"to make the comparison to other women-with-pianos is to miss the subtleties that make Stygian Veil unique: dark but not goth, jazz but not Norah, eerie yet soothing, reflective but intense, bittersweet and romantic" - Mark Schulz


Discography

Closer-EP

Photos

Bio

Little Invisibles

“I’ve always been drawn to the darker sides of art and music,” says Little Invisibles vocalist Gina Degnars. “Even back when I started taking piano lessons, when I was seven years old—I always wanted to play the minor chords, not the major ones. There’s a powerful beauty in darkness, I think.”
So there is. And it’s that same dark, powerful beauty that resonates throughout Little Invisibles’ brand of hauntingly melodic alternative pop. With Gina’s aching voice and poignant keyboard at the fore, the band’s epic, sweeping songs rise and swell like waves on a moonlit shore until they crash over the listener like a sea of Byronic heartbreak. Five of these impossibly moving songs—all composed, like the rest of the group’s music, by Gina—make up Closer, Little Invisibles’ stunning debut.
A dramatic unveiling if ever there was, Closer, which Gina co-produced, is a veritable jewel box of wide-screen modern rock. Within: jaw-dropping riches like the opener, “Breathless,” all ghostly piano, soaring vocals, and danceable trip-hop beats; the wounded-but-defiant lament “What Once Was,” the EP’s only piano-less track; and “Headrush,” a sultry duet with co-composer Lance Davis that pulses with heart-beating rhythms and gothic (small g) melodrama.
If it all sounds a bit Jane Eyre, well, then why not? Gina, who’s been through the relationship mill as much as any mature artist, maintains that she’s merely allowing her romantic angst to flower into songs that are beautiful and, ultimately, redemptive and uplifting for those who hear them. “When I’m happy I never go to the piano to write,” says Gina, who holds a bachelor’s degree in piano performance and studied at Boston’s Berklee College of Music. “I write first and foremost from emotion, and after a breakup you never have to look far for inspiration. But even then there usually ends up being an element of hope in my songs.”
Raised in a musical family (her brother, Rich Degnars, is Little Invisibles’ drummer), Gina became a fixture on the northern Delaware/Philadelphia/New York club circuit with her previous band, Stygian Veil, which released one acclaimed album, 2001’s Poison Berries. Little Invisibles materialized in 2009, the transition dovetailing perfectly with the striking songstress’s move to more clubby beats and soundtrack-ready melodies. Strong songs are strong songs no matter what the setting, and for live appearances the band can tailor its flexible lineup to fit the given scenario; in configurations ranging from a quartet (keyboards/guitar/bass/drums) to the duo of Gina and Rich (keyboards/drums) or Gina solo, Little Invisibles have been casting their spell on audiences across the East Coast and beyond, entrancing new fans with every performance.
One outspoken fan is Grammy-winning producer Phil Nicolo (Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Sting, James Taylor). “Little Invisibles have a wonderful focus and depth that is rare in modern music,” Nicolo says. “I find Gina’s unique imagery a breath of fresh air.”
“I’m just trying to write songs that are sonically compelling,” says Gina. “Music that gets a physical reaction from people, and, hopefully, resonates with them emotionally, too.”
One listen to Closer shows that her approach is working beautifully. Despite the name, Little Invisibles is an act unlikely to remain small or hidden for long.

www.littleinvisibles.com