Songs of Water: The Sea has Spoken

If I had to put a genre label on Songs of Water, it would be something like “classical/world/Appalachian folk.”  The North Carolinian band’s frontman is multi-instrumentalist Stephen Roach.  Despite being a published poet, his focus in Songs of Water is almost entirely instrumental; him leading the way on hammered dulcimer.  The other six members of the band fill in on instruments including classically-trained violins, acoustic guitar, and heavy wooden percussion. 

This is not singer-songwriter music.  The strongest songs on the record are all wordless.  The first track “Everything that Rises” (a reference to the Flannery O’Connor short story) brilliantly sets the mood for the rest of the album with soaring melodic strings, backed by rippling dulcimer, and punctuated with SoW’s trademark percussion.  Other highlights include the vaguely uneasy “Bread and Circus,” (video below) which slips irresistibly into a waltz about halfway through, and “The Family Tree” with guest Ricky Skaggs.  “Through the Dead Wood” features Roach’s skill as a percussionist—he has been trained in West African and Classical Indian styles.  Hammered dulcimer and violin play off each other the strongest in “Hwyl” which climaxes in a Celtic jig.  Like much instrumental music, Songs of Water is an experience best enjoyed when the listener can give it his or her full attention.