Artist: Watertank
Title: Liminal Status
Format: LP, CD, Digital
Label: Atypeek Music
Genre: Indie/ Alternative Rock/ Post-Hardcore
Release Date: 19/04/2024
With Liminal Status, the new album from French Rock band Watertank, the quartet is exploring “liminal spaces” – those familiar places devoid of any human presence. Watertank continues to push the boundaries of its musical universe. A new record with a stable lineup and a new form of group composition.
Watertank will turn 20 in 2024, with 3 albums and 1 EP to their name, along with nearly as many lineup changes.
Operating in the background of the French music scene, the group found stability by late 2020, centered around Thomas Boutet (Vocals/Guitar and the sole founding member), with the addition of Romain Donet (Guitar, formerly of Chaviré, A Red Season Shade), Willy Etié (Bass, ex-Weak), and Matthieu Bellemere (Drums, Moozoonsii). The quartet from Nantes then began writing their fourth album “Liminal Status” in 2022, which is set to be released in April 2024.
This new record, still deeply rooted in the 90s, continues to blend post-hardcore influences (Hum, Quicksand), alternative rock (Failure, Sugar), and shoegaze (Autolux, Nothing), while also exploring sonic territories close to pop.
Recorded and mixed by Christophe Hogommat (Mad Foxes, 20s Falling Man…) across 3 sessions between October 2022 and April 2023, Liminal Status took shape gradually. A new approach for the band, the 9 tracks were largely composed as a group and recorded live in studio sessions.
The album explores “liminal situations,” inspired by familiar places suddenly made eerie by the absence of human presence. It’s a way of describing confinement within the mundane, a form of “uncanny” or “strange familiar.” The recent health crisis has shown us how this liminal state can become our Kafkaesque reality, particularly through the cold lens of administrative handling.
More political and less focused on science fiction than their previous album Silent Running, the songs on Liminal Status address current concerns in subtle undertones. Clean Shot touches on information manipulation and its impact on the masses. Centurydelves into industrial excesses disguised as progress. Dreams Logic explores the rejection of reality and societal aspirations. On The Long Face there’s a collective apathy towards democratic issues.
Tracklist
1. Sneeze Season
2. Cut Gum
3. The Long Face
4. Liminal Status
5. Skyward
6. Solely Mine
7. Dreams Logic
8. Century
9. Clean Shot
Links
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/watertank
Instagram: https://instagram.com/watertankband
Facebook: https://facebook.com/wtrtnk
Bandcamp: https://watertank.bandcamp.com
Label: https://atypeekmusic.com
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