Album Review: Of Water

freya is a 21-year-old independent singer-songwriter/musician and university student based in Devonport, Tamaki Makaurau. Of Water is her masterfully intoxicating, debut studio album – following the wildest creatures i’ve dreamed (2021) and resolution (2021) EPs. From the smallest hum to the super-tactile lyrics of its first single – the utterly divine Saturn vs Overripe Fruit – it is easy to imagine a big following for her.

Despite the content of her lyrical concerns – “If I am a diver / I’m out of my depth / and I just keep coming up empty” (from opening track Pearl, for example) – she proves consistently capable of delivering one poetic metaphor after another. She will zero in on a feeling, returning to it for more juice, over and over, sucking the listener deeper and deeper into her haunted, shell-shaped world. 

She’s a writer’s writer, often describing her process in her lyrics – corporeal as well as intellectual and emotionally reflective in Body of Water, for example. freya allows her songs to grow in a way that feels spirit-led, long before pen or recorder harness lyric or tune. This gives the songs relatable emotional cores, built on strong, technical foundations. Producer Harry Charles Letherby provides a stable, organic tether for her floating feelings. 

She wrote all the songs on acoustic guitar, in solitude, which gives them a deeply confessional feeling. This lends the listener the delicious sensation of experiencing something that would normally be kept private. Her live EP (resolution) showed how effective this approach could be, kept just like that. However, on the album, freya’s tracks are layered with balm-like ambient and electronic textures. Leatherby sifts the kind of slow house rhythms and downtempo beats he’s a master of applying into the base tracks, resulting in an intoxicating folktronica blend. The collaboration has the twin effect of commanding discrete attention, and cushioning the listener to receive the subtle blows loaded within the lyrics. 

Additionally, Waiting II (Voice Memo) shows the strength of her naked expression. Unaffected solo vocals and acoustic guitar are backed only by rain falling on the roof. The rain is allowed a good 20 seconds of track time, by way of closing, in acknowledgement of what a vital part of the sound it provides. Truly alive music, produced with the simplest, most spontaneous of means. With no constructions between freya and the listener, it is easy to slip right into the room with her; to feel the way a bud tremulously anticipating its bursting might, when water drips upon it.  Sensual, shimmering, searching; mournful, melancholy, and resigned… yet ultimately hopeful; let Of Water pour into your deep ocean cavern. Closing track Light Find Me will crack your oyster open.