I love bands that can pull the rug from under your feet, not just between their various eras or albums but between one single release and the next. So if “Imperfection” was full of spirited yet artful punk infusions and “Defiance” bristled with heartland rock anthemics, “The Void,” the new one from Tidal Water heads off into some new territory.
Well, not entirely new, not for anyone who has been listening closely. While those two previous singles did run along some big and bold rock and roll lines, if you took note of what was running through the back of the song – honky tonk pianos, rootsy rhythms, jazz complexities, squalling psychedelic guitars, a new take on conscious soul lyrics, bluesy barrelhouse deliveries – you can see that Tidal Water has always been signaling that they are different, more eclectic, more exploratory, braver and more experimental than the rest of the pack currently wandering around the rock block.
So, with “The Void,” they have flipped the script, removed the more obvious big, bold, and bombastic salvos, and concentrated on some more ornate and serene sonics. It’s a song that slinks and saunters towards the listener on seductive grooves, hypnotic and beguiling. On top of these primal rhythms, they add bluesy guitars and cascading pianos, but these are positioned in a more distant, less dominating place, allowing the vocals and the beat to sit front and center.
And the void in question? A void in society, those dark places, and forgotten corners where equally forgotten people congregate, no longer accepted or able to keep up with the pace and purpose of the modern world, no longer deemed necessary or in line with its collective aims. But they are still people like you and me, and so lyrically, “The Void” is a poignant and timely reminder, a call for empathy and awareness, highlighting not just their presence of these lost and overlooked souls but their pain, it’s a call for unification and understanding.
Tidal Water might be capable of making big music, but the bigger aims of their lyrics are perhaps the real talking point, and never was this more true than here in “The Void.”
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