In Durham, there are two Beauty Worlds: There’s the store on Avondale Drive, one of a few locations, that’s a sprawling palace of every beautification item you could ever want. And then there’s the band, which is just two people—Leah Gibson and Duncan Webster—who craft warm, cozy tunes from cello and guitar. Beauty World has a great new tune out today, and the song might just be the duo’s best work to date.
“Joypop Turbo” is the title track to a forthcoming EP, due via the PotLuck Foundation some time this summmer. It is an immediately compelling new direction for the band, which recently added Zach Hegg on drums live. Beauty World’s slim arrangements on its self-titled 2014 EP were gentle and charming, but newly layered vocals and more intricate percussion make for delightful additions. The song’s colorful, synthy backdrop lends Beauty World a rich new sound that it hadn’t quite developed for its first EP.
You can take a listen to “Joypop Turbo” below. Beauty World will play as a duo in a casual “monkeying around” setting Thursday night at Arcana and at the N.C. Museum of Art’s Art in the Evening series on Friday.
