Telenova are an Australian alt-indie trio from Melbourne. The band consists of lead vocalist, writer and film maker Angeline Armstrong, and multi-instrumentalists and producers Edward Quinn (of Slum Sociable), and Joshua Moriarty(of Miami Horror). In early 2020, Telenova were formed by Chris Walla, formerly of Death Cab For Cutie, at an APRA AMCOS SongHubs competition.
In March 2021, Telenova’s debut single “Bones”, was premiered by Declan Byrne on Triple J’s Australian music program Home & Hosed. “Bones” was released the following day, as the lead single from their debut extended play. Alongside the release, they announced they had signed with Pointer Recordings, a subsidiary of Remote Control Records. Later in March, they announced a tour in support of the single, performing two sold out shows at the Colour Club.
Bones brought an introductory taste as to what to expect from Telenova. It drew early comparisons to Portishead and Massive Attack, with a slow-burning trip-hop sound moulding around the vocals of Angeline, who gave the single a more pop-like touch. Then, there was the further complexities added by Edward and Josh’s instrumentation, which takes the song into a more indie-leaning world; the final song feeling like a mix of tastes and flavours spanning decades of musicianship.
In April 2021, they were announced as that week’s Triple J Unearthed Feature Artist. Telenova were also announced as one of 20 recipients of the Music VR Backers Fund, from which A$2,500 goes towards the artists using live virtual reality technologies during live performances. In May, they released the single “Tranquilize”, the second single from their debut extended play. Also in May, Armstrong featured on “60 Seconds With”, a segment on Triple J’s Australian music program Home and Hosed, in promotion of the single. In June, they announced their debut extended play, Tranquilize which was released at the start of July.
This was followed by the single “Blue Valentine”. Later that month, they were announced as part of the 2021 Queensland Music Festival line-up. In March 2023, the group released the single “Lost in the Rush” and announced a regional Australian tour throughout April, May and June 2023. Telenova’s debut studio album Time is a Flower is scheduled for release in August 2024.
