Let yourself drift through the “Waves” of Josh Waters (feat. Xiamara Jennings)
“I’ve been drifting on a wave, trying to find a shoreside,
Soaking up the rays, destination goes but I’d follow you”
Waves – Josh Waters (feat. Xiamara Jennings)
Those first few verses of Waves launch the listener on an inviting ocean of notes. But before getting on board his boat, let’s talk about Josh Waters.
He started music aged six, leading a choir and developing a passion that would never fade. Years later, Joshua is immersed in his calling, doing his circuit of the Blues & Jazz stages around Mississippi and Alabama.
Recently an exciting new project took him to Atlanta, where he set to work at the BNDWTH studios. Surrounded by a team of all-star producers like WLPWR (Eminem, The Game…), Kevin Cossom (Beyonce, Rihanna…), Marquis Rashad (Chris Brown…) and more, Josh recorded 52 new tracks to be released every Wednesday of 2020.
His new single, Waves, 37th on the list, uses the sea as a beautiful metaphor for love.
To explore the difficulties involved in building a relationship, Josh Waters engages Xiamara Jennings in a featuring that sounds like a dialogue.
The track starts softly and the quality of the production grabs our attention with a jazz chords progression played by a guitar with beautiful reverb.
The drum part is subtle, combining a deep kick with some lower sounding rim shots and hi-hats. Xiamara begins the singing, and her soft vocals add still more smoothness to the experience.
A little further in the song the guitar is replaced by progressive layers of keyboards, a round bass shows up, reaching the chorus and bringing even more groove.
In the second part of the track, Josh takes the lead with his pure R&B voice, Xiamara accompanying him in the background.
The last chorus blurs the lines between lead and backing vocals, both voices mingling in sophisticated vocal arrangements, with a perfect sound mix that switches from one to the other.
“Praise your waters against howling winds. I might drown if I don’t learn to swim.
Up in the water so long I need land, wrapped in your arms stick my feet in the sand.
I have clarity, bring me back to sea”
Waves – Josh Waters (feat. Xiamara Jennings)
The sea metaphor is developed during the song, depicting a relationship as a ship braving the stormy ocean. Who is commanding the boat and what is its destination?
The sea can be smooth but sometimes gets rough. Will we be able to complete this journey and reach the shore together?
Those are the questions raised in the song, which shows (says Josh Waters) “the vulnerable space that one walks through when falling in love”.
Add this beautiful poetry to two amazing voices and a sharp production, and you get Waves. Go have a listen to it and let yourself drift away for a while.
