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Two piece bands are not completely unheard of now. Royal Blood, Drenge and The Black Keys are all bands that spring to mind, and all of these bands somehow achieve a large sound despite very few members. So surely there’s no more room for another 2 piece band, surely it’s already been done? Well it hasn’t, at least not with The Good Water on the scene.
Rob Clements (Guitar/Vocals) and Thomas Fisher(backing vocals/Drums) met at music college 10 years ago after being paired together to compose music for a confectionary advert. Ever since, the Birmingham duo have been crafting a gritty blues sound, complete with slithers of psychedelia and avant gardé lyricism. Fair play to the lads, they are definitely honing an infectious and refreshing sound. Mansaid is certainly no exception to that.
Mansaid (released February 10th) is the latest single released by The Good Water following on from the singles ‘See Your Light’, ‘Apples’ and ‘Everything Is’. Whereas ‘Apples’ falls onto the more experimental end of The Good Water’s spectrum, Mansaid sits comfortably in the middle; managing to entice with moments of psychedelia as well as engage with many more moments of playful hooks.
Mansaid comes storming out of the gates straight away, with raw crunchy guitar and plenty of work from Thomas Fisher on the toms. The chord progression in itself is catchy, and that’s not until you’ve heard the vocals. What perhaps makes Mansaid so striking is Rob Clements’ ability to create a memorable melody, complete with abstract lyrics; you know a song means business when the second line is “that’s what the man said to his Elephant.”
Scattered throughout the verses are plenty of surprises including some dirty guitar licks from Rob Clements, some great octaves in the vocals and a few unexpected snare build-ups. After a few repetitions of “That’s what the man said” there comes some screeching feedback – always a pleasant sign. After the guitar feedback this is the part where you are expecting to read all about a guitar solo, well, that doesn’t exactly happen.
The song veers off into what can best be described as a mini psychedelic journey. In true Tame Impala fashion, this section is riddled with echoing tremolo effects, droning synths and some unassuming chord changes. This, for me, is what makes the song click. You know when you’re listening to a good band when they manage to link differing sections of music together seamlessly. The song finishes with a riff, but rather than me write about the riff, I’ll let you listen to that for yourself; just make sure the volume is up.
Mansaid is solid proof that The Good Water have got an exciting thing going on, and further proof that they can take their influences of Tame Impala, Oasis and Kasabian and combine them to create a sound entirely their own. Mansaid is everything it should be, catchy, gritty and most of all extremely well crafted. Having seen this song live myself, it’s refreshing to see a song which has a great recording sound even punchier live – The Good Water’s live show is something I’d definitely recommend.
Below, I got to catch up with Rob Clements to have a talk about Mansaid and the future of The Good Water:
There seems so be a range of different influences within Mansaid, did you take any influence of any particular artist when writing this song?
The track was actually inspired by the French film La Planète Sauvage. I watched the film and then immediately sat down and wrote the song. Something about it just spoke to me. Musically I was listening to a lot of Tame Impala at the time. I think that definitely contributed to the groove and organ parts in the middle 8.
In Mansaid, musically there’s a lot going on. Did this tune write itself or did it take quite a bit of work to get it finished?
As I mentioned, the basis of the song was written very quickly. However, it did go through a lot of arrangement changes and little tweaks before we settled on what you hear now.
One thing you guys are praised for is your live shows. Is Mansaid a particular favourite of yours to play live?
Mansaid was one of the first songs we wrote as The Good Water and it has never been dropped from the live set. It always seems to get a great response from people. It’s just one of those songs that never gets boring to play, and smashing out that fuzz riff in the outro is a just great fun every time.
I see you worked with Ian Richards on the artwork. Did you have a particular concept or meaning behind the artwork?
To be honest, we just let Ian do his thing. He’s such a talented artist and his work always emits bold emotions. It was a pleasure to send him the track and just let him create something in response to our music.
How did The Good Water come around in the first place?
Tom and I met at music college some 10 years ago now. I remember we were asked to compose a piece for a hypothetical Wagon Wheel advert. We clicked over said circular confectionery and have been writing music together ever since.
What’s next up for you guys?
Well we spend some time over Christmas with Tim Felton (Broadcast) recording the next two singles. The tracks are almost finished and we’re both immensely proud of them, can’t wait for people to hear them but all in good time. In the immediate future we’ve got a few gigs to keep us busy. The first of which is 23rd March at The Sunflower Lounge with King Salami and the Cumberland Three – that’ll be a mad night, one not to be missed.
Words by Ben Coley
