„In the water” is a new, experimental, progressive rock single with theatrical elements by Turquoise Tranquillity.
The 3rd track from the album The Devil’s Willow, „In the water” serves as a metaphor-filled allegory about the loss of innocence and its aftermath. The lyrics clearly depict a struggling and wandering soul on its journey into the new self-realization.
Structurally, „In the water” is atypical, best to compare to the late ‘60s pathfinding guitar and drum infused cacophonic musical experiments such as the early King Crimson. Turquoise Tranquillity deliberately includes progressive rock elements similar to Pink Floyd’s and some rough drum solo sounds resembling to John Bonham’s.
Interestingly, the initial, poetic wording can evolve into a rough guitar overdrive, as if it was an alternative theatrical composition. Although vocally it does not follow the changes, musically there are other pieces to pay attention to.
The soundscape is less likely to become a radio favorite, on the other hand in some venues could be played and accepted well in live.
The mix is rough and oftentimes the vocals are sacrificed for the artistic sounds, still manages to glue into the different parts into one. Anyone who is a fan of Iron Butterfly will enjoy Turquoise Tranquillity’s “In the water”. It is highly recommended in HiFi or Lossless (for instance on Tidal or Apple Music) for getting all the subtle elements out. One also needs to bear with the nowadays unorthodox volume and pan changes, which actually serve the song quite well.
To sum up, “In the water” is an interesting composition akin to a bygone era, a poetic soul-search infused with auteur instrumentalization, a good musical evolution for the singer-songwriter Turquoise Tranquillity and a good test for him as a producer.
Meet and listen to Turquoise Tranquillity on his
Instagram: turq_tranq
