Real Estate‘s sixth album Daniel is out today and it feels like a distillation of everything the band has done to date, with jangly, crystalline guitars, breezy melodies, and warm, nostalgic vibes throughout. You can read our Indie Basement review of the album here, and listen to the whole thing below.
With the album led by terrific first single “Water Underground,” the band has now made us a list of their favorite “water” songs. All five members — Martin Courtney, Alex Bleeker, Julian Lynch, Sammi Niss, and Matthew Kallman — contributed to the list which includes songs from Vashti Bunyan, PJ Harvey, Phish, and more, and a few specifically tie into the making of Daniel. Check out the list and commentary and listen to a playlist of all the songs below.
REAL ESTATE’S FAVORITE “WATER” SONGS
Martin Courtney:
R.E.M. – “Nightswimming”
The perfect marriage of evocative lyrics and some of the most painfully beautiful music. The whole song feels like a movie. The song just succeeds so well at conveying a feeling that would otherwise be impossible to put into words. “I’m not sure all these people understand.”
Beach Boys – “Cool Cool Water”
These guys just want me to chill out, traditional song structure be damned. A song that understands the importance of staying hydrated. “In an ocean or in a glass, cool water is such a gas.” Cheers!
Julian Lynch:
Bill Connors – “Surrender to the Water”
This track comes from Connors’ water-themed album Swimming with a Hole in My Body, one in a series of very lovely and impressionistic collections of acoustic guitar pieces released in the wake (water pun intended) of the guitarist’s departure from Return to Forever in the mid 1970s. It’s easy to understand why Connors might have chosen to use aquatic imagery in his titles as a way to frame the music in tracks like this. When I hear the relaxed dynamics, drifting harmonic movement, and rolling fingerstyle patterns here, I like to imagine gentle undulations across the surface of a vast and dark sea. This song (and album) was a major source of inspiration for me in working on projects in 2022 and early 2023, including Daniel.
Vashti Bunyan – “Rainbow River”
Just Another Diamond Day has become a staple among the albums I listen to with my two year old son, and “Rainbow River” is one of the record’s many stunning highlights. I’m so humbled by how effective songs like this can be with such sparing instrumentation and with such simple melodic lines. Those musical choices certainly help to draw focus to the song’s beautiful lyrics. “Don’t make a sound, don’t disturb the ground / The biggest fish you ever saw is around / And the rainbow river gives a rainbow fish / As one small boy goes running proudly to his mother’s call.” Also, every time I hear the opening recorder line in this song it makes me want to buy a recorder and learn how to play it…maybe someday!
Sammi Niss:
PJ Harvey — “Water”
I can’t help but fall for a good off kilter groove. This song is from PJ’s first studio album from 1992 that was recorded with her trio. I just love how guitar and drum forward it is; simple and evocative. Takes you on a dark tale of perseverance in and across the water.
Vagabon — “Water Me Down”
Sometimes water isn’t what you want. It can thin you out and you become too diluted, too tempered, not yourself. Despite the name and the lyrical theme the song doesn’t feel watered down at all. I love the use of this chill but driving beat. I suggest a listen under headphones or blasted loud in the car so you can really feel it.
Alex Bleeker:
Tatsuro Yamashita – “ノスタルジア・オブ・アイランド”
I don’t know how to say that or spell it in English but I love this song and this entire record. Nobody does Beach Boys pastiche and California exotica like the masterful Japanese composers!
Phish – “Water in the Sky”
Just another jam-grass-fusion classic for you all, specifically selected to troll for BV audience. Give it a listen – it’s good!
Matthew Kallman:
Wendy & Bonnie – “By The Sea”
When I was the Music Supervisor for 2020 HBO miniseries I Know This Much Is True starring Mark Ruffalo, one mission was to tie-in WATER thematically via the soundtrack, as it played a large role in the source material. Being siblings did as well. Adding this song to the opening credits of Episode Two was a rush that nearly brought me to tears. Bay Area singing sisters Wendy & Bonnie’s “By The Sea” is the type of piece that could have only been captured the one time it was recorded; a lightning doesn’t strike twice, kinda thing, or something. It’s disarming, haunting, and beautiful. I wish they made more music together.
The Rivingtons — “Deep Water”
Simultaneously delicate + over-the-top dramatic, this is another track whose balance would be impossible to find in today’s world. Ridin’ that wave, man; til you’re silently drowning in the fade out. “Up to your knees” / “holding your arms up over your waist” / “the water goes up to your chest” — all the while that guitar echoes the sung sentiment perfectly (an instrumental trope Bill Callahan has perfected over the years). The fact that this was the b-side to “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow” makes it that much more unsettling.
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