Waterbaby is a duo of London-based sisters Martha and Jessica Kilpatrick. who have been snapped up by the city’s heat seeking label untitled (recs) (home to BPM faves like Jerskin Fendrix and Famous). They have just released their first single for the imprint, “Thin Air”, saying:
“It’s a song about duality. We shapeshift from being in the driver’s seat to going along for the ride, ‘am I the pilot, or the passenger?’, and travel from day to night. We use aerial analogies and flight metaphors to describe periods of ascent and descent, and the ups and downs of life. Throughout the song you soar and crash, sometimes looking down on the world below, existing somewhere in the clouds like an angel watching earth.”
In theme, tone and execution, “Thin Air” places Waterbaby in the art-pop same atmosphere as legends like Cocteau Twins and Kate Bush; elegantly bobbing and weaving melodically but with a darkness creeping in the shadows. “Thin Air” is weightless; the arrangement of sparse beats, featherweight synths and crispy drum pads truly giving the song a feeling of a hot air balloon in turbulent air streams. It makes the perfect vessel for the sisters’ meditation on duality; rising one minute with a strong sense of self, dipping the next as confidence evaporates; “we’re going higher / with the engine on fire” – they lament, tugging us compellingly along on their hair-raising journey.
Listen to “Thin Air” below or find it on your preferred streamer.
“Thin Air” is out on untitled (recs). You can find Waterbaby on Bandcamp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
