KATIE BROWN - 19 JULY 2021

“Now I’m a feather torn from its wing / I’ll let the weather decide everything / At least I know where I’ve been”

You know that feeling when you’ve been driving along a road through flat, monotonous countryside for what feels like eons, and then you round a corner and before you the scenery has magically transformed into the most lush, beautifully varied and awe-inspiring landscape imaginable? It’s unexpected, it makes your jaw drop, and stuns you into silence (thank you, Aotearoa, for your constant surprises!). Brand new album Water by Australia-based New Zealand alt-country artist Kerryn Fields, released July 9th, is the rounding of that corner. Unexpected, authentic, raw and humble with an especial serenity uniting all of these elements, Water translates as a journey of surrender and of healing - not just for Kerryn herself, but for those who listen to it.

Produced by Kerryn Fields and Fraser Montgomery (Ash Grunwald, Tracy McNeil, Dan Parsons) and mastered by Adam Dempsey (Courtney Barnett, Didirri, Angie McMahon), Water was recorded live to tape in just three days with vocals, guitars, drums and upright bass all in one room and take, adding an almost tactile sense of immediacy to the tracks. Showcasing a masterful collective of musicians consisting of Joshua Barber (drums), Ben Franz (upright bass, pedal steel), Jen Anderson (fiddle), Harley Stewart (electric guitar), and Ryan Brewer (piano, hammond, rhodes) with additional vocals by Sam Lohs, Rosie Burgess, Mitch Finglas and Jarryn Phegan, the tight production of the album is warm and joyful. Whether in the tender, acoustic guitar-driven “Until You” or the rollicking, foot stompin’ “Out On The Porch”, a sense of joy and unity binds the songs together. There is nothing forced about them; nothing false, nothing that tries to be anything other than what they are: gems that sparkle in their own right.

Calling to mind the likes of Beth Orton, Gillian Welch and Tracy Chapman, Kerryn’s voice is the glue that binds the album together. With a stunning vibrato and an incredible depth and richness across all registers, the instrumentation has been arranged in such a manner that always positions her voice where it should rightfully be, which is front and centre. The album opens with her unaccompanied vibrato sending shivers down the spine in the opening line of “Atlantis”, closely followed by a backing of acoustic guitar, with emotive strings and soft drums kicking in satisfyingly just at the right moment. Throughout the album, driving rhythm guitar and steady drums alternate with and are complimented by shimmering and effervescent touches, such as the delicate piano fluttering in the background of “Where I’ve Been”, and the ethereal backing to “Black Fire” playing off against the picked acoustic guitar until the rhythm section kicks in. With their natural treatment giving them a particular warmth and richness, the drums take their rightful place as the unobtrusive heartbeat of the album, creating the perfect foundation for Kerryn’s vocals to weave their magic.

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“Starting at the end of a relationship. Recording something joyous where I once found myself hopeless and lost. This is a record of beautiful, circular processes,” Kerryn says in talking about the album, which she began working on, grieving and homesick, when her marriage ended.

“It was only a matter of time before I started metabolising the grief, sending demos to Fraser (Montgomery). We decided to return to where these songs were born - but this time, to record.”

In light of this, naming the album Water couldn’t be more perfect. Always a powerful metaphor, it speaks of what it is to thirst and to feel dried out, and conversely, what it is to be nourished - for the proverbial rains to come. As with the process of recording a joyful work in a space where hopelessness and grief once resided, the metaphor of water speaks to the cyclical nature of life in its ebb and the flow; what it is to lack and then be filled. The album itself is a beautiful representation of this: there may be a long drive through barren land, but just around the corner when you least expect it lies a landscape of unparalleled beauty waiting to take your breath away.

Heartbreaking yet joyful, gentle and uplifting, Water is a must—listen album with a heart of gold and a twinkle in its eye, and it will quietly floor you.

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Stream the album below.