“Open Water“ by Fust came at me unexpectedly, 2 years after it was released. But it quickly settled into my bones and forced repeated listens. It’s the kind of melody I wished I’d stumbled upon; with gentle twitches outside of the cadence established in the first verse. Words just evocative enough to project the quiet, nameless beauty you find on the margins of things. Little scribbles.
Fust. Genevieve
There’s a sweetly artificial octave-down harmony on the vocal. You might not notice it at first, just a few grains of Splenda… But its part of most of the songs on the record and it lends weight to the tracks where guitars and piano float around like the tangled and restless smoke of cigarettes on the porch in summer. It’s not trying to dazzle; no, it’s trying to seduce. Seduction via simplicity, a naked honesty that feels almost cruel.
Every note feels like it’s reaching for something just out of grasp. Reaching for a memory half-heartedly, knowing that letting go is the only path forward.
Anyway, I really dig this one and I wish I wrote it. Their new album is called Big Ugly and it’s fantastic as well. Good chance I’ll be mentioning them again.