We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Under the Weight of Water

by The Sound of Machines

supported by
Will Hamilton - iriamu
Will Hamilton - iriamu thumbnail
/
1.
High Water 03:43
lyrics
buy track
High water, low expectations It’s a soft approximation, rain clouds and ecstasy Why don’t we just quit And take the long way down….the long way down And how is it that we split From head to toe He’s got the palm of his hand On the back of his neck And another on the bow of this boat, but it’s OK This low thunder will rock us back to sleep And why don’t we just quit And take the long way down...the long way down And how is it that we split From head to toe
2.
I Will Too 05:28
lyrics
buy track
Find a ledge to jump from, and I will too The wind picks up again, the stars die one by one Maybe if you hang on, I will too We’re on that boat again Rocking side to side, and we do too We do too Put up the sail again, let the wind decide I will too Put your words in writing, and I will, too Collateral for secrets, a drop of blood will do Secrets for acceptance If you only tell the truth, I will too If the story changes, the rumors might be true Just say the safe words, they’ll know what to do I will too.
3.
For the Sake of Living 05:11
lyrics
buy track
Now, for the sake of living We stay off the street Now, for the sake of living There’s a light on in the hall And plastic on the sheets But who’s to say we’ll last half that long Who’s to say we’ll last half that long You can put me down for caring At least an hour or more Push this thing to the limit Go full tilt Who’s to say we’ll last half that long Who’s to say we’ll last half that long It’s for the sake of living The sake of living This is where you end and you begin Stretched apart like roadmaps onto skin I’m still amazed at the way we save our words Rolling like waves over days Over bones in the ocean For the sake of living
4.
Blood For Sale 04:04
lyrics
buy track
Who’s got the blood for sale Who’s got that sweet, sweet blood Cause there’s a god in the kitchen, and it’s not yours God in the kitchen and it’s not yours He’s empty, dry as dirt and he needs more Who’s got that sweet, sweet blood for sale He may just want to sit down once again It’s such a tiny space, but everyone fits in Choose your words, take your time He’s patient, yeah he’s fine It passes if you slowly count to ten It’s such a tiny vein but the needle slides right in Choose your words, take your time We’re patient, yeah we’re fine Blood for sale…
5.
Breech 03:15
lyrics
buy track
Instrumental
6.
Glow 04:33
lyrics
buy track
Now that you’re a shadow The boats pass over you Water’s gone to static, the lights they wrap like blankets over you All bioluminescent Your body it sinks right through And that’s why I bet you glow in the dark Glow in the dark Now that you’re the sea bed The seasons pass right through The fade away of engines Like the whisper of a prayer or two A brackish part of nowhere The plankton swing like hangmen over you And that’s why I bet you glow in the dark I bet you glow in the dark
7.
The Dance 04:16
lyrics
buy track
Sure there’s always a chance To be the music, but not the dance But you’ll have plenty of time This life goes on and on and on The shouting comes from out of nowhere Bitter metal on your tongue Tarps like blankets, rope and vessel If you grab a hold, we’ll lift on one And there’s nothing to say We may come visit, but never stay But there’ll be plenty of time Your life goes on and on and on Shovels down, the sun is rising It’s just a blister on your thumb The headlights nod up on the mountain A tiny moment come and gone
8.
Infinite Line Around the Earth 05:28
lyrics
buy track
It’s bad she says I fell about a year ago and haven’t gotten out of bed Bad, she said I must have tried a hundred times To get the crickets out of my head But when the sun cuts out I see places where I’ve never been And never want to be again And when the air is thin I see visions of oil and rope Of forest and chains Of footsteps in rain It’s bad, she said I heard that scream a year ago and it still lives inside my head She said Bad, she said The way I feel the ocean waves while I’m still living in my bed She said And if this storm rolls out I’ll place my hand upon your heart And with the other on mine I’ll lie down next to you
9.
Under the Weight of Water 04:28
lyrics
buy track
We dream under the weight of water Among coral and stone We sway with the current’s soft rhythm The search lights reflect Like fishing nets over the ripples Your bones were stirred up By the blades of an old outboard motor Fragments of skull washed up on the bank of the river And now the deadlines are over No one turns their lights out anymore We dream under the weight of water We dream under the weight of water We dream under the weight of water We dream...

about

Under the Weight of Water album review, by David Ferguson.
-------
Under The Weight of Water – the fourth album by Virginia-based antimusic ensemble The Sound of Machines – seems almost to be coming from somewhere deep under thousands of leagues of water where the dark is only broken by pinpricks of bioluminescent light from creatures we’d probably rather not see in their entirety.

The first single and album opener “High Water,” begins with Rich Bernett, the band’s nucleus and sole constant member, inviting the listener to join him in floating aimlessly away on the ocean and letting go of everything.

“High water/low expectations,” he sings over an ethereal, nearly asymmetric groove awash in languid, almost drunken 60s harmonies like someone drowned The Zombies. “And why don’t we just quit and take the long way down?” he asks. “And how is it that we split from head to toe?”

Whether this abandonment of the comfort of shore is suicidal or symbolic, Weight leaves up to the listener, content to keep its secrets.

The song sets the stage for a slow-motion, ever-flowing parade of songs that drift like sea anemones on a current – “For the Sake of Living” – or boil along like a river on fire (“Blood for Sale”).

In the darkness of its undersea trench, Weight is a musical universe where some songs sting the face like delicate ocean mist and others remind us that an inch of moving water on a road is enough to send a car spinning and sliding downstream and ultimately drown everyone inside.

Still others – “The Dance” — convey at first a dreamy optimism that seems to belie the darkness of the album’s undersea-cavern sound…until the characters are trapped and swept away by circumstances beyond their control.

The men and women in Weight’s songs struggle under burdens of all kinds. A woman in “Infinite Line Around the Earth” tells the narrator, “I heard that scream a year ago/and it still lives inside my head.” The letter-writing narrator in “I Will Too” who maybe loves you a little too much promises/threatens, “Find a ledge to jump from, and I will too.”

On the title track, Bernett sings to some anonymous missing person, “Your bones were stirred up/By the blades of an old outboard motor/Fragments of skull washed up on the bank of the river.”

It’s hard not to wonder at points if Sound of Machines has a kind of oracular gift-slash-curse regarding lyrics. Many of the album’s songs grapple with a kind of suffocating dread that may feel all too familiar to listeners in the age of COVID. Bernett has said, however, that all of the lyrics were written prior to the beginning of the pandemic.

Ultimately, The Weight of Water could not be a more aptly named record. It’s almost as if the songs, while distinct from each other, all arrive wet and shining like mysterious things hauled up in fishing nets. Through artful use of echo effects, lyrics like dialogue from dreams, mysterious buried noises, and actual samples of water sounds, Bernett has created a wildly immersive suite of songs. Jump in. Let it close over your head. Who cares about getting back to shore?
-------
David Ferguson is a writer and musician living in Georgia. He has worked as a radio announcer, journalist, editor and researcher. He is the lead singer of the band Kompromat.

credits

released October 1, 2020

All songs written and mixed by Rich Bernett
Frances Mitchem-Diago, Backing Vocals
Blake Surbey, Drums
Carmen Bernett, Backing Vocals on "Under the Weight of Water"

Mastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis Studios, London

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

The Sound Of Machines image

The Sound Of Machines Richmond, Virginia

The Sound of Machines is the passion project of Rich Bernett.

contact / help

Contact The Sound Of Machines

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Under the Weight of Water, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Saxophonist Isaiah Collier chats about his new LP and the influence of Pharoah Sanders.
listen now