Reviewed by Rupert Thomas II
Water Bear/In the Moonlight
Songs have their own personalities: they woo us, entice us to sing in the shower and sometimes even smack us in the proverbial face. Water Bear’s In The Moonlight goes a step further and assigns forenames to each track. This is a method the band calls Name Music. The violin-heavy tunes unfurls into timeless instrumentals wherein a name is given a body through note and pitch. With a track list slightly favoring femininity, even Henry VIII — cleverly absent from the list — would savor the beauty and persona of each song before slicing to the next.
The idea behind Name Music is both simple and complex. Letters are assigned a pitch on the violin, and each score is confined to those letters within its given name. Each band member adds his or her own flavor, creating a depth of personality and a sound that’s as alive as flesh and blood.
