Maven Grace - Take Me to the Water
The new single and video appears just ahead of the sophomore album, Surface with a Smile (Helium Records), releasing on Friday, 18 October 2024.
‘Take Me to the Water’ is the latest single and video from UK indie / dreampop duo Maven Grace (Henry Jack and Mary Home). Released on Monday, 14 October 2024, with a video premiere courtesy of The Spill Magazine, ‘Take Me to the Water’ is the fourth single from their soon-to-be-released second album, Surface with a Smile (18 October 2024, on Helium Records), with vinyl preorders for the album available now.
Speaking about the new video, Henry Jack said:
“‘Take Me to the Water’ was entirely filmed over the course of a single evening in Dublin’s Docklands district. The video charts the journey from uncertainty to acceptance, and mirrors the distance the song travels from despair to hope.”
Recorded at Abbey Road using a vibraphone left behind by Nick Cave, and with virtuoso drumming from Portishead / Radiohead’s esteemed Clive Deamer, the song floats by on a cloud of skittering percussion, murmured vocals, and Hungarian strings. The video was shot by Irish filmmaker Trevor Keogh, and stars celebrated performance artist Marlena, who adds:
“The music to me is about rebirth. We all need to be taken to the water to wash away the past and become our true selves. I particularly connected with the lyrical themes of identity because there are parts of the world where it is very difficult, if not dangerous, to be accepted as your true self. We all need to learn how to breathe, as the song says, and Dublin is a good place do that.”
Recorded and produced between the legendary Abbey Road, and Bryan Ferry’s Avonmore Studio, for Surface with a Smile, Maven Grace collaborators reprising roles from the debut outing, Sleep Standing Up, include co-producer Chris ‘Merrick’ Hughes (Adam & The Ants, Tears for Fears); multi-instrumentalist Tom White (Electric Soft Parade, Brakes, The Waeve); violinist Diana Galvydyte (the Lithuanian Philharmonic); and bassist Charlie Jones (Goldfrapp, The Cult, Vamberator; and previously Siouxsie Sioux, Shelleyan Orphan, Robert Plant). New to the fold are drummers Clive Deamer (Portishead, Radiohead) and Marcus Efstratiou (Hook & The Twin, Psychid); Craig Chapman on Frenchhorn; and mixing engineers Sam Petts-Davies (Radiohead, The Smile, Michael Kiwanuka, Frank Ocean) and Simon Willey (who also plays Omnichord, Witchshifter and Bizzy Fizzy).
Maven Grace’s previous album, Sleep Standing Up, has been described as “stunning… spellbinding … a kaleidoscope of hazy colours” (The Line of Best Fit), and “elegant … chilly beauty … a triumph” (MOJO Magazine); while The Arts Desk praised the album’s “luscious, gigantic, lyrical, emotionally astute enormo-pop” and “sumptuous, slow-blossoming pop”. Lavish praise has likewise been heaped upon the most recent single, ‘No Music’ (from the forthcoming album), which celebrates the tenacity of musicians forced underground by oppressive regimes. Where the previous album dealt with intensely personal themes of loss, including bereavement, divorce, and isolation; singles from the new album like ‘No Music’ and latest offering ‘Take Me to the Water’ are also notable for their broader social commentary.
Surface with a Smile by Maven Grace is released Friday, 18 October 2024, on Helium Records, with preorders available now. Both Surface with a Smile and previous album Sleep Standing Up can also be ordered together as a bundle.
