#Bodywash Massif Central

[thejoyofviolentmovement]

New Audio: Bodywash Shares Woozy and Buzzing "Perfect Blue"

New Audio: Bodywash Shares Woozy and Buzzing "Perfect Blue" @bodywashmtl @LightOrgan @pitchperfectpr

Montréal-based JOVM mainstays Bodywash — Chris Steward and Rosie Long Dector — can trace their origins back to when the pair met while attending McGill University. But when they met, the pair didn’t immediately share a common musical language: Steward grew up in London listening to celestial dream pop while Dector grew up in Toronto listening to folk and Canadiana. The music they began writing…

[therarefied]

Bodywash’s “Massif Central”

[shoegazekid]

@bodywashmtl #shoegaze

[dustedmagazine]

Bodywash — I Held the Shape While I Could (Light Organ)

Photo by Kristina Pederson

Montreal based musicians Chris Steward and Rosie Long Decter create densely textured dream pop on their aptly named sophomore album I Held the Shape While I Could. The duo, who share writing, vocal and production duties, layer veils of synth and guitar over ethereal vocals and dynamic rhythms that split the difference between Ride and The Cocteau Twins. Exploring cultural, geographical and personal dislocation, their songs evoke the drift and drive that comes from being caught between uncertainty and stability. Rather than distortion and feedback, Bodywash emphasize immersive atmospherics and shifting perspectives to conjure a sense of disorientation in their music and lyrics.

Bodywash are good at diaphanous beauty. The opening track “In So Far” floats light as air, Decter’s layered vocals aloft on a zephyr of keyboards before drummer Ryan White swoops in as if to catch her fall. The instrumental “Bas Relief” features a simple piano motif atop swells of synth and muted guitar squirls, an abstract interlude of grief. When they pick up the pace and volume on “Massif Central”, “Perfect Blue” and “Sterilizer” Steward’s guitars alternate between crystal clear runs and an overdriven fuzz of chords that build tension through restraint. There is a steely resilience at the core but an awareness that self-protection can only take you so far. During “One Day Clear” Decter speaks about the way back - “One of these days, you get to go again, tie your hair in knots again, place your fingers on the rail, try not to lose the steps and smile if you see someone on the way down”. Her words and delivery provide an emotional center to the album and a contrast to the centrifugal construction of the rest of the songs which even when they are relatively straightforward seem to be on the verge of spinning off orbit. 

Dream pop often devolves into overelaborate filigrees tracing ever narrowing circles. On I Held the Shape While I Could Bodywash avoid this trap with a keen sense of dynamics and a directness that grounds their best songs, imbuing them with the gravity required to keep them connected to the earth whilst they soar above it. 

Andrew Forell

[daggerzine]

Bodywash- I Held the Shape While I Could (Light Organ Records)

Montreal duo Bodywash are back. It’s been three years since their last full-length album. I kind of forgot about them, but it was well worth the wait.  Rosie Long Dector contributes vocals and synths. Chris Steward also adds vocals, but also guitars, bass, and synths. Add Ryan White on drums and there you have it. Besnard Lakes’ Jace Lasek produced this time for a great album filled with ambient dream pop. 

“In As Far” starts as a building ambient instrumental, leads into trumpet synths with angelic vocals, and then the drums kick in. “and after you’re in as far; holding it seems better; holding your way to falling out.“  Track 2, “Picture Of,” is a great transition into a song that could easily be found on a Pure Bathing Culture album. Throbbing bass, steady beats, swirling guitars. What’s not to like about that? “days get tight; i watch the bloom; it all grows sideways; and covers up the room; i decide to lie and wait; picture of desire in a frame.”  The next track, “Massif Central,” has an intricate, fast-paced joyride of guitar that leads into sonic bursts. Classic shoegaze here. Chris takes on the lead vocals here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26krIBARn10 “Bas Relief” is a beautiful instrumental filled with organs sounding like airplane engine sounds and distorted, somber piano.  The next song, “Perfect Blue,” is a perfect transition to sonic power chord shoegaze filled with Chris’s hazy vocals. The drums come off as a barn door flapping in the wind with an occasional punch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH-1nCgbhmM With “Kind Of Light,” organs blast with Rosie’s heartfelt vocals along with an eerie, yet beautiful, pulsing beat.  “oh darling; you didn’t have to come; and meet me; we breathe; and lose it at the same time.” The song ends with a beautiful Japanese melody. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbB2lSN5tao

“One Day Clear” could easily be called “One of These Days,” as it’s repeated in the song. Strong, repetitive, building synths with heavenly vocals leading into spoken word. “one of these days it might all; seem like paint; chipped off your nails; like an envelope or a bad night; you were saving for later.“  Track 8, “Sterilizer,” my favorite track, smacks you out of your seat with its jangly guitar dreampop and great harmonies. A summer jam to blast in the car with the top down. Lovely guitar solos with outstanding drum touches.  The next two songs appear to be a two-part piece. “Dessents” captures Cocteau Twins’ (maybe even Frankie Rose?) style with its repetitive, whispered vocals building and building. Again, those are great bands to be compared to.  “Ascents” transitions as part two of the previous track. Here, marching drums kick in with Rosie’s vocals added by an amazing lead bass. It’s a bouncy hypnotic dreampop gem.  “Patina” has repetitive, but intricate guitar work with angelic vocals. Beautiful jangle shoegaze. Lasek’s production really shines on this one.  The last song, “No Repair,” contains rhythms that splash, heavenly guitar and Rosie’s layered vocals that create a gorgeous finish to this album. It eventually fades out to a single guitar with vocals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR3IFjv-YgA  

I Held the Shape While I Could is the welcome return of Bodywash. I missed their free show at Chicago’s Empty Bottle. I would love to hear this performed live. Hopefully, they will make it through the area again. I love the alternate mixing of ambient, dream pop, and shoegaze. It’s definitely an album to check out with headphones. Thank you, Rosie and Chris!  (REVIEW BY ERIC EGGLESON)

https://bodywashmtl.bandcamp.com/album/i-held-the-shape-while-i-could

https://lightorganrecords.com/

[thejoyofviolentmovement]

New VIdeo: Bodywash Shares Heartbreaking "No Repair"

New VIdeo: Bodywash Shares Heartbreaking "No Repair" @bodywashmtl @LightOrgan @pitchperfectpr

This week will be extraordinarily as I’ll be covering the fourth edition of The New Colossus Festival this week. Look for various portions of my coverage to be coming within the upcoming weeks — including some potential interviews, live concert photography and other thoughts. But I’ll be trying my best to squeeze in my regular coverage of all things within my world — musically and otherwise. So…

[thejoyofviolentmovement]

New Video: Montréal's Bodywash Shares Woozy and Uneasy "Massif Central"

New Video: Montréal's Bodywash Shares Woozy and Uneasy "Massif Central" @bodywashmtl @LightOrgan @pitchperfectpr

Montréal-based shoegazers Bodywash — Chris Steward and Rosie Long Dector — can trace their origins back to when the pair met while attending McGill University. But when they met, the pair didn’t immediately share a common musical language: Steward grew up in London listening to celestial dream pop while Dector grew up in Toronto listening to folk and Canadiana. The music they began writing…