Wet Wings are a chill/lullaby (chillaby?) folk duo from New Zealand made up of Lucy Bottling and Darian Woods. They initially met at the 2006 Christchurch School Choir competition, on opposite teams. Now they’re on the same team and have just released their debut album “Glory Glory” on Lil’ Chief Records. The band’s name refers to a kind of airplane wings that hold the plane’s fuel supply – apparently, these two share a keen interest in hobby aviation.
Aside from being quite photogenic and quirky, they are charming and gentle with their piano/keyboard-based folk. On “Glory Glory”, they create various aural textures beneath a blanket of thoughtfully quiet lullabies that make a lovely mid-summer soundtrack. Every song has layers of instrumentation and occasional oddities such as a babbling toddler, all creating a lush soundscape. The other day I took an afternoon nap with this playing in my headphones. I woke up half an hour later, as the album was finishing, feeling gloriously zen and rested. It was a wonderful experience and I’ve been hooked since.
Their new album follows last year’s “Skin To Soil” EP, both of which have had a limited run on cassette tape, thanks to Infinity Tapes. One of my favorite songs on “Glory Glory” is the joyfully upbeat “Last Day Of Summer”, which bounces along with a plucky line from what sounds like a toy keyboard. You can download its syrupy counterpart “Last Day Of Summer (Round Two)” for free on their label’s Bandcamp, as the B-side to the single “Feeeel It”.
Speaking of syrupy tracks on their debut, check out “Super Happy”, which opens with a dreamy organ voice and a minimal click-clack electronic beat. Also listen to the somber “We’ve Lost Her”, a bittersweet song that will temporarily take hold of your emotional state if your guard is down. More upbeat songs include the morphing “Witching Hour” and also “Stay Inside”, which I think is going to stick around on my iPod for quite a while.
Download two songs from “Glory Glory” and watch the video for “Feeeel It” below.
Connect with Wet Wings: Facebook | Myspace | Bandcamp | Website | Last.fm
