Water From Your Eyes - Everyone's Crushed (Album Review)
Wednesday, 31 May 2023
Written by Tom Morgan
Photo: Ariel Fisher
Water From Your Eyes don’t make things simple. Or do they? The New York duo’s oddball indietronica can seem abstract and challenging but their compositions are often sparse and their lyrics deceptively simple.
The pair, who recently signed with Matador Records, are an achingly modern mish-mash of tones and emotions. Much like our internet-driven world where everything happens all at once, Water From Your Eyes have a knack for fusing disparate parts into a beguiling, inscrutable whole.
Their latest full-length ‘Everybody’s Crushed’ is their most adventurous work to date. Every track is bold and intriguing, particularly those inspired by modern composition. Of note is 14, a serialism-derived head scratcher bursting with heartrending strings and enigmatic words.
Other cuts are more rock-oriented but no less knotty. The title track fuses dance-punk rhythms with delicate strings, the commanding Barley rides a dissonant synth line alongside kinetic drums and True Life’s jittery guitars bristle with nervous energy.
Rachel Brown’s lyrics are an absurdist delight. Tonally they lurch from funny to profound to bleak with surprising elegance. To illustrate, True Life skittles between the poignance of “love is right around the curve/but did you know how much it hurts?” and meta questions about sample clearance directed at Neil Young.
‘Everybody’s Crushed’ will irritate some listeners with its initial abstruseness. And yet, for those willing to grant it time and patience, great rewards are waiting to be reaped.
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