Hidden Shoal Recordings » Ghost in the Water Reviews

Ghost In The Water ‘Clean Sinks And Folded Laundry’ – Losing Today

tim — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:56:55 +0000

Excerpt: “a delicately caressing slice of willowy starry eyed pop that’s seductively primed and framed with a wonderfully hollowed weeping string arrangement and serenaded by a glassy cortege of twinkling celestial keys over which the hushed intimacy of Mandy’s forlorn and faraway wounded vocals trace their hurtful detail, sweetly sombre stuff that to these ears sounds not unlike some tear evoking sparsely drawn farewell embrace hatched between a stripped and frail Cranberries and Sundays.”

Losing Today

Ghost In The Water “Tooth” – Rift

tim — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 06:25:22 +0000

Excerpt: “quite beautiful. Underneath many of these songs you’re likely to hear daydream-like chimes dancing around like children on a playground… Message to female vocalist: Dear Mandy, your voice is really nice… really innocent and beautiful… Message to male vocalist: Dear Nathan, you’ve got a great voice too! You really do a really swell job at harmonizing… It’s really clear that the two of you work together nicely… Mandy’s vocals are so gentle and comforting that more than once I thought about taking a nap during it. Seriously, I did, and I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for those pesky dynamics you two so wittingly make the most of.”

Rift

Ghost In The Water “Tooth” – Foxy Digitalis

tim — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 23:24:04 +0000

Excerpt: “an engaging brew of sputtering electronic pop with touches of strings, keys, and acoustic guitar providing a serene melodic counterpoint. While the song arrangements are complex in places, the vocals, whether sung by each individually or in harmony, are delivered with a sense of earnestness and are steeped in matters of the heart. Some of Bjork’s work comes to mind here, both sonically and vocally, particularly when Mandy approaches her breathy expressionism on ‘A Nightmare’.”

Foxy Digitalis

Ghost In The Water “Tooth” – Cosmos Gaming

tim — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 03:15:20 +0000

Excerpt: “definitely a sign of great things to come from this group… listeners will be putting this album on repeat due to how addictive the instrumental work is… the group’s ability to merge two distinct styles of the same genre into one are sure to impress listeners and raise awareness of this band’s existence to quite a few people… Tooth showcases a group that already has some new and exciting ideas.”

Cosmos Gaming

Ghost In The Water “Tooth” – Artrocker

tim — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:24:35 +0000

Excerpt: “From the hushed-but-busy guitar lines to the angelic keyboard parts, Ghost In The Water sweeps around in the wind, spreading goodness like magic pixie dust… It’s incredibly twee, but thoroughly beautiful. Songs such as ‘Magic Wand’ are so tender you feel that by just listening to them you could break them… This is the sound of blowing candy floss into the wind and then wondering where it’s going to end up.”

Artrocker

Ghost In The Water “Tooth” – The Neon Rider

tim — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:21:59 +0000

Excerpt: “a really smooth record filled with smooth sounds like violins, guitars combined with melodic electro and vocals that fit just right. It’s a great album to be on your car driving by yourself, on the beach watching the sunset or in your bedroom reading a book. I suggest that you go to iTunes, eMusic or Amazon and buy it, keep the hype aside for a bit and enjoy this remarkable work.”

The Neon Rider

Ghost In The Water “Tooth” – Popmatters

tim — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 06:58:37 +0000

Excerpt: “The husband and wife tandem of Nathan and Mandy Tensen-Wollery create some interesting, atmospheric melodies on this album, sounding a bit like The Cure if Robert Smith thought the keyboards were the end all and be all of the band… The greatest asset this album possesses is how highbrow it is without being overly arty. A great example of this is the lush, reflective ‘Clean Sinks and Folded Laundry’, a roughly three-minute nugget that ebbs and flows. Ghost in the Water go totally retro though for the chipper, synth-pop of ‘How to Draw a Ghost’. Another keeper has to be the majestic ‘Pushpins and Tape’.”

Popmatters

Ghost In The Water “Tooth” – TRKD

tim — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 00:30:42 +0000

Excerpt: “A mystical fusion of magical lullaby sounds created in a child’s dream… this duo somehow have created a whole magical land in their basement, creating amazing sounds from electronic sources as well as handmade sounds from guitars to chimes all the way to synthesizers to percussion. The contrast between male/female vocals adds that extra special quality to their delicate dreamy songs. Its quite incredible how much detail you can hear in one song when you close your eyes, lying down on a comfy bed and letting your imagination run free. Just beautiful.”

TRKD

Ghost In The Water “Tooth” – Lavender Magazine

tim — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 05:01:23 +0000

Excerpt: “makes the listener feel somewhat out of balance, but also keeps him or her engaged throughout the collection’s 10 songs. All in all, Tooth is a brilliant debut by a group that already has one successful project under their belts. More, please.”

Lavender Magazine

Ghost In The Water “Tooth” – Luna Kafe

tim — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 10:53:09 +0000

Excerpt: “clever, crisp and cool as ice-cream. And as tasty... Tooth is a collection of fine melodies and rich vocal patterns. The songs are made for cloudwalking, or daydreaming, or whatever you call it. They sound fluffy, but they’re not too soft and cuddly… a very good album… a powerful debut.”

Luna Kafe

Ghost In The Water “Tooth” – Sound As Language

tim — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 07:44:39 +0000

Excerpt: “Tooth is the kind of album people should be investing their time and energy towards. Granted, this territory has been mined before but rarely this well. The husband/wife duo of Nathan and Mandy Tensen-Woolery create such an embracing atmosphere on their debut effort… The song arrangements are inventive and the lyrics are remarkably engrossing. The duo has a playful, creative energy that is measured only by the album’s dark ambience. Nothing on Tooth ever goes for that cheap thrill. The material here is measured and subtle in its approach. There is incredible detail given to each movement and when and where each voice appears over the angelic backdrop of guitars and electronics. Tooth is wildly moving and quite an impressive debut.”

Sound As Language

Ghost In The Water ‘Clean Sinks and Folded Laundry’ – Luna Kafe

tim — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 06:32:20 +0000

Excerpt: “spellbinding, ghostlike electronic pop… Melodic and to the point. Perfect electro-pop, with the right doses of energy and chilled enthusiasm.”

Luna Kafe

Ghost In The Water ‘Clean Sinks and Folded Laundry’ – Angry Ape

tim — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 05:49:50 +0000

Excerpt: “the colourful electronic pop explosion contained here acts as a more than suitable precursor to forthcoming album Tooth… It’s a bright number, with Mandy Tensen-Woolery’s vocals rising much like Bjork’s style, while creating a lullaby-like atmosphere. B-side, the highly infectious, ‘How to Draw a Ghost’ is my favourite of the two… Driven by post-punk guitars and bass, computer game bleeps and a textured string arrangement, which adds a certain vibrancy, the vocals here recall Deborah Harry at her most seductive. This is no mean feat, I may add. It’s a disparate amalgam of sounds and influences that all tie together to give Ghost in the Water their own distinctive edge. Both tracks leave you wanting more. Ghost in the Water are clearly as comfortable constructing dancefloor fillers as they are with breezy summer pop.”

Angry Ape