When someone tells me to listen to their friend’s album, I immediately assume they are suggesting it to support their friend, not because they genuinely enjoy the project. I love it when I’m wrong.
A friend told me to listen to Waterfowl because they’re friends with the band. But the album is good, not good in the “well my friend made it” type of way, but genuinely, unequivocally good. Waterfowl is dreamy, Indie Pop/Indie Rock. It is mixed and arranged beautifully with notes that flow from the left ear to the right and sounds placed so that they seem to nestle above the corners of my jaw. At 28 minutes it’s short but not too short and the tracks are so cohesive that it should be listened to in one sitting. The five seconds of silence at the end of the album’s last song and beginning of the first song signify it is meant to be played on loop. Literally none of that actually explains how the album sounds though, so let me talk about cereal.
Some songs like “Engulfed” and the second half of “Water Foul” are hard like dry cereal. Listening to them feels like when you first bite into Cap’n Crunch and it breaks and crumbles as you chew, slightly cutting the roof of your mouth in the process. Others tracks, like “Soft Skin” and the first half of “Water Foul” are gentler. Listening to then feels cereal in milk, biscuts in tea, and donuts in coffee. Track one, “Nakid” sounds cool and smooth. Listening to it is like laying your head on the cold side of the pillow, or when it’s warm enough to sleep with the window open but still cold enough to use your duvet. Track seven, “Our Apartment” is intentionally nasally and harsh. Listening to it is like sharing an apartment with a noise musician, purposefully unpleasant but altogether weirdly enjoyable. I hate the vocals but can’t stop bopping my head to the heavy drum kit. Track eight, “Try Not to Think” is by far my favorite. Listening to it is like that feeling you get when someone you love catches your glance or brushes their fingertips lightly across your hand. It is electric. It is a fast pulse and slow deep breaths and blowing eyelashes into the wind. It epitomizes the album.
Waterfowl gets five stars. I didn’t think I would like it, but I love it. Remember to listen to your music recommendations folks.
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