Last month we had the pleasure of premiering “Maiden’s Call“, a powerful opening statement from Burials (2nd July – Meadows), the fourth album from Cambridge-based post-folk collective Fuzzy Lights who have been on hiatus for eight years.
Today they are sharing the video for their new single “Under the Waves” which opens to an engulfing wall of sound that seethes and coils through the darkness before entering the folk-rock territory we previously described as a “dramatic cathartic fuzz jam that’s more in the territory of Dirty Three meets Kikagaku Moyo/幾何学模様 and the drone-worshipping blissed-out territory of Godspeed You! Black Emperor.” If you enjoy those aforementioned names or like the idea of psych-folk band Trees being stoked up by a few degrees then this will please you no end.
Just as the band members of Trees laid down a powerful palette of sound that threatened to engulf the sweet vocals of Celia Humphris, so do Fuzzy Lights. The band come close to the edge at times, tumultuously spiralling around Rachel Watkins vocals who treads water as the torrents swirl around her. It lends a vulnerability to her voice as well as a feeling of surrender, calmness in threat of destruction, something that ties in well to the song’s sentiment:
“Under the Waves” deals with the devastation of coral reefs, ocean resources and our natural world. Rachel Watkins explains, “it was written in response to the effect of the climate crisis on the oceans and the devastating effects a rise in global temperatures are having on the fragile ecosystems that exist beneath the waves.” She continues to say, “It’s a love song about a relationship that is unsustainable and destructive to the detriment of both parties, with the lamentation of what we have lost struggling against the inertia that has led us all to this point.”
Burials, due out 2nd July on Meadows.
Fuzzy Lights are:
Rachel Watkins – violin & vocals
Xavier Watkins – guitar & electronics
Chris Rogers – guitar
Daniel Carney – bass
Mark Blay – drums
Pre-Order Burials: https://fuzzylights.bandcamp.com/album/burials
Photo Credit: Josie Harries