YO.

I listen to a lot of music. On any given day, I usually listen to at least 3 new (to me) albums. Sometimes I listen to old stuff, but I’m usually trying to find brand spanking new music to rave about. This probably isn’t healthy, but I do all this so my friends don’t have to look for music, they can just see my ramblings on Facebook.

This band, Hundred Waters, DEFINITELY stuck out from the deluge of music I go through. The first thing I heard from this band was the song “Visitor” which combined lush, organic textures of strings and flutes with synthesized textures from keyboards and other computer-related wizardry. At first I wasn’t into it, just listening to the track on it’s own. The singer’s voice didn’t rub me the right way either.

However: once I started listening to the full album, I totally got it. “Visitor” totally made sense, the flute flourishes felt like fountain springs bursting into my subconscious, the plinking synthesizer melody sounded like little tiny drips of water forming a river on the forest floor, and the lead singer’s voice. Oy vey, it’s so unique and wonderful, but also very approachable and homy. Something motherly within it, or something.

SO: Let’s get on to the rest of the album, shall we? I won’t get into track by track detail, but a lot of these tracks on here are noteworthy all in their own way. The whole album’s sound revolves around the mixing of the two different textures: organic and synthesized. Some songs feature acoustic guitar with patches of synthy melodies, but then there are songs with basically all electronics, save for a few sound effects made by chimes or drums. But these songs all have an organic aspect to them all: Nicole Miglis, the lead singer. Her voice is very earthy, giving each song a nice coating of top soil before sending them up into the stratosphere of electronics.

The songs also don’t really function as “electronic” songs in terms of layout. They usually sound like normal “folk” songs, spinning tales of mythical happenings or beings being soundtracked by very cool grooves and sound effects. And by the way, some of the little noises and effects that the band puts into this album are superb and well-placed. Especially on the track “Theia” where sometimes there’s a little blip or flutter of electronics in the background, behind a KILLER groove.
All in all, this is a great album and if you want to, you should pick it up.

Have a nice day!