On the Record 8: Hundred Waters - Communicating
Seven years from its release and this weird, delightful indie electronic album still satisfies.
Rating: 7/10
Genre: Electronic / Indie / Pop
Length: 47m 12s
Release Date: September 15, 2017
Label: OWSLA
Streaming quality: 44.1kHz/16-bit
First Impressions
I'm hopping in my wayback machine to share a record that I used to listen to all the time. A raw, introspective, and meditative album, Communicating by Hundred Waters abandons mainstream style and subverts expectations. The trio, produced by Skrillex, presents an interesting, and occasionally challenging, indie electronic album. Unusual vocal delivery and a diverse use of sound and electronic instrumentation fuse to create a formulaic foundation that still manages to surprise in almost every song.
My first introduction to Hundred Waters was the Skrillex remix of "Show Me Love," which featured Chance the Rapper and Moses Sumney on vocals, plus Robin Hannibal on production (link to discography). I've always found this to be a brilliant tune. The magazine Stereogum outlines the structure of Hundred Waters, stating they
... are very selective about the people to whom they give their personal time. Once a five-piece, all that remains are [Zach] Tetreault, the logistical leader of the band, along with [Nicole] Miglis and [Trayer] Tryon, who’ve quietly maintained their long-term relationship.
The relationship between Miglis and Tryon provides an intangible "here today, gone tomorrow" quality to the music. I recall an interview (that I can't source) wherein Miglis stated plainly that her relationship with Tryon was coupled to the music they produced --- both had to exist simultaneously. This admission created a profound sense of musical scarcity. Devoted fanbases have an expectation that their favorite bands will always continue to make music, and some fans become restless, frustrated, and hostile with artists they love don't submit to the churn. Because of this, I deeply appreciated the acknowledgment that Communicating could be the last release from Hundred Waters, and to cherish the opportunity to hear it.
On The Record
The album Communicating was preceded by a five-song EP Currency. Currency is worth listening to as a stylistic precursor to Communicating. While many EP’s feature a few songs from the full length album, this EP is markedly defined by the four songs that are not featured on the final album.
Spotify playcounts suggest that Currency has done fairly well as a standalone EP. Three of the five songs on Currency clock in around 200k plays per song, and the lowest playcounts for Communicating are around 200k. “Particle” (the one song on both Currency and Communicating) has 1.2 million plays. The Currency EP maintains a pleasant rough-around-the-edges quality. This reinforces the "indie" sound and helps distinguish the work from the highly-polished electronic productions of the same era.
The same "indie" quality is there in the full-length album Communicating, but the production is less rough. Somewhat amorphous, Communicating incorporates a variety of influences, but differentiates itself by Nicole Miglis's vocals. Weird, wavy, and raw, she refuses to allow her singing to be bound by contemporary expectation. It would be too easy (and predictable) to have clean, nice, neat vocals for this kind of electronic-based pop music. By subverting this trope, an uncommon authenticity breaks through.
Sound Impressions
Currency opens with the song "Particle," a safe choice considering it was on the EP. Miglis's breathy vocals enter after a brief keyboard intro. Her pronunciation can be unintelligible at times, but it's an appropriate stylistic choice. After the intro, the song breaks into its electronic flair, and we get a clearer sense of what the album has in store. The electronic drum programming is an interesting, glitchy kind of rhythm. The bass is thin on headphones, but it's well-reinforced if you listen with a subwoofer. The sub-bass has a propensity to get undesirably thick at times.
Each of these tunes has a trick up its sleeve. In "Wave to Anchor" the trick is a brilliant and explosive synth part that takes the place of a chorus. The second verse uses well-placed quiet before building back to the energetic synth. Progressing into the bridge, there is a fun, wacky, but solid groove and cohesion between the synth, bass, and drums.
The third track, "Prison Guard," lowers the energy with a steady, rhythmic snare. There are two things I particularly like about this song. The first is the tension introduced by a deep, bowed string note in the line
Prison guard, don't keep me
It only happens a few times, but it's really satisfying. The other is a chiaroscuro that happens twice. There's a bright chord in the piano beneath the lyrics
It's only the half you see
The other half, they're surrounding me
Forever lost in your frozen seize
Defile you
before it reverses course to the dark chorus. This brightness happens again as the song nears its end: the drums change rhythm, the musical clouds part, and some of the darkness clears.
The song "Firelight” creates a whiplash effect between the docile harmonization and the eccentric takeover of the bass and synth melody that bounces around beat subdivisions. Then, the song switches again to a laid-back, coffee-shop energy.
I love a good interlude, and "Re:" is a soft reprise of the eccentric subdivisions in the opening of "Firelight."
Nearing the end, "Fingers" is one of the finer songs on the album. Miglis’ voice dwells on the release of words and leaves substantial space between phrases. Consider her delivery at from 0:43-0:53 of
Fingers leave of linger
where she takes 20 seconds to sing those words. There's a synth that seemingly picks up her breath and the end of "linger" to allow the sounds to dissolve. A cymbal roll reverses the dissolution and drives into a contrasting, staccato chorus. These little interplays continue to delight me years after first listening to this album.
Continuing to side-step obvious arrangement choices, the eponymous "Communicating" repeats the question
Are we communicating?
over and over, almost like a chant. Or perhaps somewhere between an ostinato and a round? The inflections change slightly and multiple voices enter, but they don't overlap until later in the song. With the main vocals entering with heavy effects, there is a deeply trance-like and avant-garde presentation.
I wish the album ended on the lilting "Blanket Me," since it seamlessly progresses out of "Communicating." The closing "Better" is a lovely song in its own right, and the last 90-seconds repeat the musical motifs as a parting gift.
Final Thoughts
I rated this as a 7/10 for its unique approach. I do wish the lyrics were a little more intelligible, but it would detract from the ethereal quality of the music. This record won’t be everyone's cup of tea, but it is strong and interesting.
As for setting, I really enjoy this record as a backdrop to start off a busy day. It brings me the right level of energy and focus without being boring or distracting.
P.S. Fun side-note, according to an article from Spin, Hundred Waters member Zach Tetreault used to work in ads at Grooveshark (RIP). Grooveshark was a gray-area streaming service where users uploaded their own MP3s. Grooveshark was kind of like Soundcloud meets Spotify, while Bandcamp was still growing into the marketplace it is today. The interface was good, and Grooveshark was filled with obscure music that wouldn’t have been available to stream. It was a sweet, sweet moment in music streaming as user. I found lots of cool music on the platform. Naturally, The Manᵀᴹ ruined it because the labels weren’t getting paid and the site folded. Artists still don’t make anything from streaming, but labels do, so it was an obvious (albeit sad) outcome for the site.
On my radar (or, what used to be)
I fell into a nostalgia trap writing this up. Below I list a couple tunes and mixes that I used to listen to all the time in my electronic phase.
I saw that Snakehips performed in D.C. recently. From the depths of my brain, I remembered that "All My Friends" was in this 30 minute mix from Sweater Beats.
I saw Louis Futon in New Orleans opening for Griz and I really enjoyed his set. This "Zoned Out Mix" is packed with great remixes and sets a sweet vibe.
And finally, a couple tunes from deep in my Soundcloud likes. Though I was never a big fan of Getter’s music, the first track I’m sharing is an exception. I will never forget the first time I heard this. It was in a mix from the DJ/production duo gLAdiator (it was the Fall 2016 mix) and it rewired my brain.
That Fall 2016 gLAdiator mix also introduced me to this PRXZM tune. It was a real moment for me.