MP3: Bodies of Water – Mary, Don’t You Weep
Mary, don’t you weep, oh Martha don’t you moan
Sheri, don’t you cry, oh Laura don’t you groan
At the end of time, when your family’s dead
You will have the one you love instead
When I saw Bodies of Water at Skully’s in Columbus in the summer of ’08 (above), I was most astounded by how such a giant voice could come from the tiny body of Meredith Metcalf. Touring on the Secretly Canadian release A Certain Feeling, she approached operatic territory in the slow-building “Gold, Tan, Peach, and Grey.” It’s a complementary contrast to the more dulcet tones of her husband and bandmate, David. Tomorrow the band releases its latest record, Twist Again, a literal homespun affair recorded in the Metcalfs’ Los Angeles living room. But this isn’t bedroom indie-pop. “Mary, Don’t You Weep” is filled out with a horn section; big, danceable drums; and lots of layered “Ahhhs.” Give it a listen, above.
In the record bio, the Metcalfs explain that, while listening to lots of Gregory Isaacs, Laid Back and Roy Orbison, “all the songs turned out to be (in one way or another) about things that are absent.”
RIYL: Akron/Family, Arcade Fire, Danielson, Jefferson Airplane.
