by Tobias Moore

There are some albums that are meant to be heard alone, and some that are meant to be sung from the rafters – and Bodies Of Water is one that lies somewhere in between, as there is a fluctuation of pace, tone and texture that make it a body of work guaranteed to be as great live as it is when played within the realms of your own four walls

See the brilliance, and allure, of the album, lies in the fact that there is no sense of the definitive. Whether you choose to drift along to the pleasantries of 3 Weeks or run to the hammer and tong nature of Lush, each track only furthers the avenues in which you can find yourself wandering down. With every song offering something unique, yet so inherently Moontype, at points, it feels as though you are bearing witness to their internal stream of consciousness – following the scrawlings of a yet restrained teenage mind.

It’s this variety of moods that makes the collection ever the more inviting – with each listen you become more inquisitive, and with each play, the album becomes more human. A mirroring of the conversations that make up the murmurings around us, the multitude of tempos that converge within Bodies Of Water allows for a true reflection of daily life. Be it the whirrings of an overwhelmed brain that culminates within the melodies of Blue Michigan, or the sighs of relief that emerge from Ferry, the ability to conjure emotions so kindred to the ones that we ourselves feel is a credit to the musical language that Moontype have translated.

Yet, perhaps this is not so much of a marvel, and instead a reason for me to realign my views on the creative process. Because rather than being a result of both the human investment and instrumentation, Moontype have created a synergy between the pair – combining them to become one musical entity that allows for this distinctly relatable energy to flow from note to note. It’s an album where each sound feels birthed from the same mind and heading down the same pathway. Each guitar slide maps out roads travelled, and each crash of percussion is a gust of wind through the hair. Perhaps this is best illustrated by the contributions of Margaret McCarthy. Often written in an almost call and response-like manner, the narrations, be it vocals or basslines, of McCarthy, are central to the band’s charm. From grunge to poet in a matter of syllables, the off-kilt harmonies coupled with her tonality, combine for a vocal display that will surely see Bodies of Water feature heavily across end-of-year lists.

Capturing magic within the normalities of life, the band has a skill at illustrating the most vivid of scenery within your mind while still making sure not to overlook the harsher aspects of life that often come hand in hand with such beauty. For a group only now emerging from the thriving musical underbelly of Chicago, there’s a feeling within their sound that they are artists well travelled and well informed. Despite being constricted in location, Moontype are a band firmly on the move and one who are guaranteed to make ripples when they reach the shores of Europe.

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