Los Angeles-based Bodies Of Water have been under the radar for most of their short-lived career. But they shouldn’t have a problem with that anymore. A Certain Feeling (Secretly Canadian), the band’s second full-length in just two years, finds the quartet where 2007’s Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink left off experimenting with song structure, utilizing a variety of instruments and becoming more and more sophisticated musically-speaking than many of their peers.
The album was recorded in singers David and Meredith Metcalf’s house in California. After listening to the album, it wouldn’t be surprising to learn the house was haunted. Throughout A Certain Feeling, the band harbors ghostly melodies, menacing songwriting and cryptic lyrics that, at times, can reach the anthemic peak and catharsis of The Arcade Fire. Like Ears Will Pop…, the new record offers swift-cutting arrangements, puzzling tempo changes, and an array of instrumentation peppering every song. Spooky organs, echoing pianos, ominous brass sections, droning electric guitars and pounding drums flesh out the already formidable and complicated approach.
Perhaps the most powerful aspect of Bodies Of Water is their capacity for chilling harmonies, which constantly lets the album flex its muscles. The band blends their vocals together so flawlessly that their voices often become a towering and sturdy wall of sound, perfectly built – which in turn can make the peculiar arrangements feel as natural as pop music. Of course, the band is much more interesting and complex than that. Each song grooves in and out of each other and serves as an excellent transition into the next. They move fluidly – from harder anthems (“Under The Pines”) to soulful longing (“Only You”) to schizophrenic musings (“Water Here”). Even within the songs themselves, there are interesting left turns and complicated shifts in direction, from danceable upbeat melodies to slower ghostly hymnals. The transition from loud sing-a-longs to soft and intricate songs and back again never fare roughly.
A Certain Feeling is an unpredictable and intriguing album. The songs are all different from one another musically, but there is always a common and constant seam finding its way through each song. But while so many different threads entwine their way in and out, they are all tightly woven together, evoking a definite tone of haunting and mesmerizing song craft that should make Bodies Of Water one of the most talked about bands in indie music.
– Michael Danaher
Bodies Of Water: www.bodiesofwater.net
Secretly Canadian: www.secretlycanadian.com