Written by: Dave Cantrell

Having swelled by a few musicians the list of virtuosic friends core duo Meredith and David Metcalf asked to help out in the studio since their head-turning debut in 2008 (Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink), their LA-based band Bodies of Water’s sound has dutifully kept pace, their bewitching brand of sunny apocalyptic, harmony-drenched blue-eyed soul (with a gospel mojo) gaining, rather unbelievably, an even greater depth, an even greater heft. “Hold Me Closer,” off the soon-to-be-released Spear in the City (Thousand Tongues, August 25th), takes many of the hallmarks with which BoW made their reputation – in this case a ringingly subtle gospel tinges, an artful propulsiveness that results from an innate mash-up of passionate delivery riding a relaxed, and an almost tropical groove – and shapes them into a swoon-worthy first single that could well pass for that unknown track that mid-period Fleetwood Mac cut with the guys from Steely Dan on a warm breezy lost day in mythical LA, locked away in a secret studio with Van Dyke Parks producing. It has that ease of magic about it, and we’re not only deeply pleased to premier it here at SEM, but just as pleased to tell you that, yes, we’ve heard the whole of Spear in the City and every song on there is capable of inducing the kind of easy superlatives that roll off one’s tongue like slippery elm. There’s mystery, there’s enchantment, there’s darkness and grace, but above all, there’s beauty. Mark your calendars.