The Response step into focus with the slow-burning clarity of 'Novel Idea'

6 Aug 2025 — 2 min read

Christchurch duo The Response aren’t interested in hype. Instead, their latest record Novel Idea arrives like a quiet exhale, an album shaped as much by restraint as it is by the creative overflow of two artists who've never stopped moving.

For the better part of a decade, Andy and Vic Knopp have been musical shapeshifters. When they weren’t writing under The Response, they were releasing projects as Imperial April and Volts, teaming up with Rodney Fisher, and leaving their fingerprints on tracks by Emma Dilemma, Katie Thompson and others. They’ve been everywhere, but Novel Idea brings them back home.

This isn’t a comeback in the traditional sense. It’s more like a clearing of space. The album pieces together fragments from years of half-finished ideas and paused momentum, giving them shape and intent. It carries the weight of lived experience, the kind that can’t be rushed or forced into place.

Over The Moon sets the tone with its fractured rhythms and simmering tension. Throughout the album, discomfort is a feature, not a flaw. The production is minimal but deliberate, allowing every moment to breathe. You can hear the gaps and second-guessing, the false starts and quiet resolutions.

The title track Novel Idea is a standout. It begins with a stark lyric, “Burn everything,” before folding into something more contemplative. The guitar work is sharp and disjointed, mirroring the emotional unease. There’s a shift in the chorus where the narrative softens: “Every mistake is a badge that I wear, maybe I don’t need to be repaired.” It’s a line that encapsulates the album’s quiet confidence. There’s no attempt to tie things up neatly. Just an invitation to sit with the mess of reinvention.

What’s striking is how little Novel Idea seems to care about chasing trends or attention. It’s an album that rewards stillness, unfolding slowly and without urgency. That alone feels radical in a time where immediacy is often the measure of success. The Response have never been louder, but they’ve never sounded more sure of themselves. Novel Idea is a reflection, years in the making. 

The album is out now on all major streaming platforms.