Wooden Maria and the brooding melancholic two way mirror of "Fool's Spring" from the "Hokusaian Wave" album

 

"Ice has thawed / River is flowing / Mist has cleared / Young buds are showing / Still a seed of doubt will linger in your mind..."

Put on a coat or warm sweater before steeping into the glacial sadness of "Fool's Spring" by London based Wooden Maria and from their recently released full length "Hokusaian Wave". The (at first) spartan track that moves on percussive machine beats and trip hop cadences, a lush but deeply melancholy Fender Rhodes-esque keys, plaintive electric guitar that push down to dissonant places, bottom heavy bass tones and Oliver Muto's distinctive brooding vocals crooning sad words, "If I could just show you, How do you prove to someone they’re short circuiting? What’s happening."

There is a sense of emotional seasons overtaking. Of things passing away and not knowing if those things will be resurrected, will ever bloom again. Like a relationship shape shifting slowly, "Fool's Spring" subtly gets heavier. The production boils but slowly like a pot on the stove on a low heat that has been ignored until the mess happens. There are also bits of surreal things happening, conceptually or metaphorically of things happening because of maybe chemical imbalances or that we are not being ourselves, of a false world, of even nature being programmed by unseen hands, at least that is what come to mind. I unfortunately, have not had the time to dive completely into "Hokusaian Wave" that has been birthed over what might of been a long year as Muto shares on the band's Instagram.  

Over a good year in the making, ‘Hokusaian Wave’ is here to finally share with you all. It would be a lie if I said it hadn’t been a heavy time, but having this project as a cathartic space may just have kept me grounded. The album really chronicles it all, I tend to take a more cryptic approach to music making but it’s all in there. It’s a body of work I’m very proud of & I hope you enjoy the ride...

Also grateful to those close by who rode the wave with me, you know who you are so thank you!

The entire album can be accessed via their Bandcamp page, on Spotify and on You Tube. Take a dip into the melancholia, into the catharsis and if it get's under your skin and moves you, I hope you support Wooden Maria. 

-Robb Donker Curtius




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THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:

https://www.facebook.com/WoodenMaria

https://soundcloud.com/woodenmaria

https://open.spotify.com/artist/4oFH2GdgeUUJWc6jS7Suq5

https://www.youtube.com/user/aboatforlandandwater/featured

https://wooden-maria.bandcamp.com/releases

https://www.instagram.com/woodenmaria/

Four-piece alternative project based in London.

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 Wooden Maria, London based, avant pop, folk indie, dark folk, psych folk, indie rock, dissonant, brooding vox, "Fool's Spring",  "Hokusaian Wave" album, singer songwriter, Oliver Muto,