Last year, alt-pop songstress Lotic released what many regarded as her most accomplished work to date. Water was a beguiling and pivotal album, with Lotic assuming the role of siren as she channeled the elemental qualities of water in order to engage in discourse around gender, sexuality, and queerness. The result was spellbinding, enchanting; a progression from her aggressive and deconstructed club sound toward something more spiritual and at peace. Following the remix album trend, Lotic adds her own to the slew of recent releases from left-field artists revisiting their work with the Sparkling Water EP.
Sparkling Water revisits four songs from its source material, reimagined through all brass arrangements by Hilary Jeffery. The music here is intentionally sparse, in contrast to Water’s abstract and detailed production. It makes sense. Brass instrumentation featured prominently on Water, though they were intertwined with layers of lush electronics to emulate the aquatic landscape of Water’s mise-en-scene. Stripped of its abysmal bass rumbles and liquid synths, the songs on Sparkling Water shift focus to Lotic’s voice. It highlights just how dynamic her performances of these songs are, further affirming Water as a magnum opus for the artist. Her sharp falsettos on Emergency dance with the fluttering brass, more desperate and breathless than before. Come Unto Me is markedly less skittish, sans the original’s glitchy trip-hop, with moments of Lotic’s voice suspended in space, singing acapella, becoming a standout across the EP. The euphoric urgency of Always You is slightly more grounded here, a slight jazz approach in Lotic’s voice and the syncopation of the brass. The transposing of Water’s often abstract and non-linear melodies into a functional chorus of brass is impressive, and Sparkling Water never feels lacking. Diamond in particular is most successful in capturing the slipperiness of the original, with Lotic’s mermaid song as bewitching as ever.
Download and stream Sparkling Water here
The idea of this being a more clarified distillation of Water is intriguing, albeit unnecessary. Water was never muddy to begin with. But, as a reduction of Water’s essence down to its most essential elements, the EP functions to reveal just how successful these songs are at standing on their own two feet. Selecting four tracks, rather than the entire album, is a wise move that keeps Sparkling Water succinct and engaging. It feels as if this project is destined to be experienced live. It’s a powerful reworking of an already potent brew, one which remains just as haunting as its source material.
Listen to Always You (Sparkling) from Sparkling Water below.
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