BODIES OF WATER - TWIST AGAIN (LP)

Bodies Of Water Twist Again on LP

Since Bodies of Water’s last record, 2008’s A Certain Feeling, much has happened to them; travels throughout North America in their stalwart motor-home, the departure and arrival of various band members, the unexpected notoriety of core duo David & Meredith’s crypto-disco trio Music Go Music, and the construction of their drafty yet dependable home studio.

From this milieu has emerged the singular statement that is Twist Again. Recorded and mixed at home by David and (a newly pregnant) Meredith in Highland Park (their northeast L.A. neighborhood), the album is a work out of time. It sounds like no other record of 2011, or maybe any other era. The album seems to have escaped the stamp of the cut & paste digital age, it sounds like people playing music together in a room, which it essentially is.

Since their inception, BoW has performed in various incarnations ranging from two to fifteen people, and the group’s extended musical family was drawn upon heavily in seeding Twist Again’s sonic landscape with horns, strings, saxophones, percussion, and more. The fuzzed out guitar lines and heavy organs of previous BoW recordings have morphed into a J.C. Vannier inspired stew of buzzing reeds and rich brass. The choral blasts have been replaced by cascades of strings and driving pianos à la Roy Orbison or Ennio Morricone.

From the haunting lullabies “Rise Up, Careful” and “Lights Out Forever” to the pathos-anthems “Mary, Don’t You Weep” and “Like A Stranger,” these are rare sorts of classic melodies, and the arrangements give them room to resonate. David’s shaky baritone (imagine a relaxed Scott Walker) and Meredith’s clear, tender mezzo-soprano take turns at the head of the band, and join for a duet. This time around, listening is an invitation inside, rather than a challenge to keep up. - Chase Roden

Bodies Of Water Twist Again Track Listing:

1.  One Hand Loves the Other
2.  Triplets
3.  Mary, Don't You Weep
4.  Open Rhythms
5.  Rise Up, Careful
6.  Ever With Us
7.  Like A Stranger
8.  Lights Out Forever
9.  New Age Nightmare
10. In Your Thrall Again
11. My Hip Won't Let Me
12. You Knew Me So Well