Written by Imani Wj Wright
Craig Waters & The Flood, know how to bring the noise.
On their track, A Love Like You, the energy is established immediately with a bandmember counting in the crew: "One, two, three, four, one!" This is simultaneously done while the drummer is hitting his sticks together... causing anticipation and suspense. That opening voice is engineered pretty far back in the mix, making the Flood's instrumental entrance that much more intense.
Once the piece really gets going, the "big band" sound is in full effect. Horns, guitar, vocals, drums... the whole 9.
Craig Waters told SwanoDown:
"The chorus harmony really borrows from Stevie Wonder and the out gets pretty Gospel. The horn chart and vocal arrangement are just bananas. It’s all over the place because it’s this tapestry of influence from different arenas. There is also a lot of love in that room and I think it’s easy to clock that.
As far as subject content, it presents to me as a love song that’s praying it’s not unrequited. From a performance perspective, it’s big and maniacal. That band is all horsepower. This is the only tune on the record that I didn’t write the lyrics for and it’s also the only one we filmed or played completely live."
Waters continued:
"There’s a reason for that. Amberly is such a great lyricist and I know listeners will relate to the premise. We’ve all been in love and we’ve all been scared to lose it and we want you to take away whatever you relate to about that, but we also want people to feel how much love and joy went into the performance."
From the vocals, to the instrumentation, the overall soundscape is eclectic, honing in elements of Jazz, Funk, and R&B. The transitions of the dynamics amongst this piece are also impressive. The story being told has it's peaks and valleys, just as the melodies accompanying it do.
Waters stated:
"The bulk of the record is comprised of tunes that I felt I did very little to write. They just sort of arrive. They hit you like a ton of bricks, mostly complete, in eureka moments where the real effort goes into reverse engineering a finished product that you hear in your head, into individual parts for everyone to play. I tend to put as much emphasis as I can on protecting the rough draft. I try to be as attentive as I can to what the tune WANTS to be. I trust my instincts and their ability to serve the piece. That's exactly what we are as artists - servants to the song."
Check out Craig Waters & the Flood's, A Love Like You:
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