Del Water Gap And Arlo Parks Wrap Listeners in a "Quilt Of Steam" Ahead of Upcoming LP
Photo: S Holden Jaffe; Collage: Nico Bonacquist
Indie darling Del Water Gap gives fans another sneak peek into his upcoming album I Miss You Already + I Haven't Left Yet, set to release September 29, with the release of his latest single, "Quilt of Steam." Born out of the tour Del Water Gap supported for Arlo Parks' first album, the singer-songwriters team up to create a rich single that props up Parks' lush vocals while creating a world full of flourishing harmonics and alluring instrumentation, showing off their shared aptitude for dreamy, pensive narratives.
"Quilt of Steam" opens with what can only be described as a sonic hug. Breezy, sweeping instrumentation fills the air and envelopes the listener in a warm blanket of sound interwoven by nostalgic keyboard riffs, subdued, warped synth tones, and warm, steaming vocals. Gap and Parks look for stability after a transient existence in the verses, ultimately hoping to find peace in their relationships now that they are in one place. The ode commits itself to finding beauty in the mundane, with lyrics like "I needed a change, but I wasn't brave enough / I needed a beer and a hug and a way out of the crater / I needed a change, so we wouldn't fall out of love / I couldn't admit I was crushed by the weight of being strangers," striking listeners right in the heart.
Del Water Gap says, "Isa and I had toured together on her first album and became friends and discovered this mutual love for poetry and instrumental music…We had both been quite burned out when we first met, and when we finally caught some time off and the color started returning to our faces we spent two days with Ethan Gruska."
"'Quilt of Steam' is what stuck. To me, this song is about coming off tour and feeling scrambled as hell and trying to find some balance and stillness in the midst of all that," he continues. "It's about waking up in your own bed for the first time in months and noticing the little details you hadn't had the capacity to let in while everything was moving around you; lying in bed for a while and watching the steam rise off the radiator. Feeling the poetry come back to your mind. It's about finding beauty in the mundane but it's also about the treason of not acknowledging conflict, and trying to keep stoic even when you have no idea where you're going."
Soon, Del Water Gap will embark on a headline tour featuring some of his biggest shows, including a sold-out night at NYC's Brooklyn Steel, LA's The Fonda, and Austin City Limits in Texas. The upcoming album, named in the inspiration of a note addressed to his grandmother found in a book of William Carlos Williams' poetry by his late grandfather, is set to be a genuine sonic pleasure with soulful melodies and a haunting electronic landscape filtered through a modern pop lens. The album will paint a spell-binding, audacious portrait of sexuality and substance use, inspired by the gritty '60s rockstar glamor detailed by writers like Joan Didion and Eve Babitz.
Watch the "Quilt of Steam" visualizer below: