Manchester based alt rock/synthwave band Shape Of Water are releasing their debut album ‘Great Illusions’ on 12th June! The album deals mainly with misconceptions surrounding human feelings, politics, and society, and has been described as ‘perfect festival music’.
The album starts off with ‘Mars-X’. It opens up with a soft keyboard section which perfectly eases the listener in to the album. By track two you have already heard a pretty diverse mix of genres, making each track a refreshing listen. ‘Scar’ is a song about emotional scars caused by past relationships, and this definitely comes across in the vocals despite it edging towards a more rocky sound.
The pace drops slightly for ‘Still Karma’ and ‘In Your Arms’ but adds an electronic element in to the mix in places. The vocals are laced with emotion, something that is a constant throughout the album.
‘A Silvia’ is an insane nine minute long track that combines each sub-genre already heard on ‘Great Illusions’. It begins with an elegant, ethereal intro that bridges off in to lighter rock, but I can’t help but feel it was a bit long winded.
‘Not All The Things’ is in some ways quite an emotionally conflicting track due to the groovy beat that lies underneath the guilt ridden lyrics. The vocals contain a level of pain that carries on in the next track ‘Five Days To Shine’.
Shape Of Water’s first single from the album, ‘The World Is Calling Me’, is an influential song about war and the superpowers of the world. It is a moving track about the need for a spread of democracy and is a thrilling listen before slowing down the pace in title track ‘Great Illusion’.