Love gets compared to bodies of water over and over again. There are plenty of high-school-English-class ways you could interpret this symbolism, but one thing’s for sure: The ocean of love is infinitely vast, taking many forms, and Indigo Sparke knows this well. On her latest album,, released via Sacred Bones and produced by Aaron Dessner of The National, nowhere is this titular emotion portrayed more accurately than in the constant comparison to the waves of passion and love.
The album becomes its own universe, a blurry and intense one that Sparke is reluctant to leave. It almost feels like it was recorded to be played over the course of one night, with “Blue” serving as your introduction to the evening, and “Burn” putting you to an uneasy sleep as the sun rises.
However, certain songs masterfully break the mold. In “Hysteria,” for instance, a door feels opened, breaking up the simmering of the rest of the LP. Sparke’s voice dances in a lighter way on this track, and the lyrics feel physical, as though she were weaving them for you with her hands. The shift in tone and the brighter guitar give the album much-needed variety in texture, helpfully shifting the musical and emotional lens through which it gets at its core themes.