Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Bodies of Water - A Certain Feeling


Another thing that I picked up at Pure Groove the other week was the new Bodies of Water album. It’s not officially out until 22 July, but they’ve bagged some advance copies for sale (signed too, natch). Since having my pants charmed off by their wonderful debut Ears Will Pop and Eyes Will Blink last year, I was obviously keen to hear what the new stuff sounds like.

There’s a definite progression, which although necessary isn’t always a good thing. The reason I loved Ears Will Pop… was the sheer wide-eyed, almost naïve, joy of it all. The massed vocals and harmonies; and the perfect combination of intensity with the knack of a perfect pop tune totally nailed it for me last time. On A Certain Feeling these features are still there, but it’s less rough and ready, which was part of the appeal of its predecessor. It just feels a bit more slick and produced.

But this is a bit too churlish. Perhaps I complain too much, and give the impression that I don’t like A Certain Feeling. It’s still a great album, and will be better than most other stuff released this year. The vocals, harmonies, and the tunes still sparkle. They’ve got more horns, driving rhythm (Water Here), proggy ballad stylings (Keep Me On) and a definite tipping towards classic 70s rock. The euphoria is still there too (see especially Darling, Be Here). It’s all round a bit meatier, a bit more rocking, which is all fine really. So no damning with faint praise – this is an album which seems to get better and better as it progresses, and although tuneful, still improves with repeated listens.

In fact, the main feeling of lack that I get is imagining how amazing it might sound live, and then realising that Bodies of Water have never played over here and seem to have no plans to do so in the near future. So go on – fix up some dates. Please. I’d be very happy.

Download: Bodies of Water – Under The Pines
Download: Bodies of Water – Darling, Be Here

Buy A Certain Feeling from Pure Groove.

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