Tidal Water - Neocolonial Hand (Prorigg)

Tidal Water is steadily building a name for itself based on two key factors. Firstly, their music is a mercurial blend of…well, everything; unpick any one of their songs, and you will find sonic threads as diverse and different as alt-rock weight and jazz infusions, post-rock soundscaping and pop infectiousness, blues salvos, funk, folk, and myriad unexpected genres, all working in harmony to create something new in this world of soundalikes and fakery, shallowness and cliche.

Their second unique selling point is that their lyrics actually mean something. Something beyond the usual “boy meets girl” or “let’s all be nice to each other” schtick, something that digs deep into the fabric of modern society and shines a light on the hidden workings of its dark underbelly. With their latest single, “Neocolonial Hand,” as the title might suggest, they take a long, hard look into the movements of hidden hands and drive that information home with music that is going to turn your head. Factors that make their music such a rewarding experience.

“Neocolonial Hand” is a soundclash of funky back beats and angular rock, gnarly sonics and unexpectedly danceable grooves, a sort of strange blend of The Fall and Paliament-Funkadelic, if you can imagine such a thing. But it is when we get to the lyrics that things get interesting. Inspired by, or at least running parallel to, the work of Danish filmmaker Mads Brügger, particularly his documentary “The Ambassador,” which exposed the exploitation and diplomatic machinations rife in African politics, “Neocolonial Hand” is a song that uses its lyrics to great affect.

It speaks of hands reaching out in friendship, but which are_“Disguised as trade, a conquering plan.”_ It talks of how the powers-that-be control and take over their economies— “In the web of loans, their autonomy falls” —and is a poignant reminder that whether we are aware of it or not, we are all complicit in this new colonial enterprise, “not just in the jewels we take, but also in cocoa that you make.”

Tidal Water is a band that understands they are lucky to have the platform that they do, that this “soapbox” of social media puts them in a position to spread ideas to the masses, ask them to question the world around them, and their part in it, and is a powerful reminder them that in the consumer age, more than at any time in human history, it is us, the man and woman in the street, who does have the power to change things. And it can be as easy as collectively changing the things we put in our basket at the supermarket!

Website
Facebook
Twitter
Spotify
YouTube