With their foundations as simply Cannon and Felman producing eerie, operatic electronica, Written in Waters incorporated the rest of the band upon Beth joining BIMM. Chemistry has rarely been reached so completely and so quickly. Each band member learnt to play to their strengths and form the rich tapestry of sounds that, when woven together, form a Written in Waters composition. Underpinning the whole sound are Stewarts menacing drums and dizzying patterns and time signatures, gleamed effortlessly from his history playing technical thrash. Jenner counteracts this with his nimble, delicate bass playing, which takes influence as much from jazz fusion as it does Radiohead. This lays the foundation for Felman and McKenzie to layer each other, with Felman balancing McKenzie’s Explosions in the Sky- influenced haunting, soaring guitar tones with funereal chords and structures that show his soundtracking experience and owe themselves not only to bands like Sigur Ros but also film composers like Hans Zimmer and Joe Hisaishi. At the front of track, however, Cannon’s voice calls out. With the dynamic manipulation and range of Jeff Buckley, and the willingness to experiment of Björk, Cannon uses her opera background to give the ghostly, expansive music behind her an emotional, pleading depth which is rarely seen in post-rock. Her honest lyrics and unflinchingly confrontational style is something that will trademark the band who, as an ensemble, are unafraid to trample any genre. Notably on Hymn, ethereal post-rock is merged effortlessly with bitter soul music, and on future tracks metal, electronica, jazz, dub and even film noir will be tampered with and adapted into the Written in Waters canvas.
