Tidal Water (Norway) – Defiance (single/possible future album track)

I’m not certain any Tidal Water actually makes its way into Oslo from the fjord but this track, ‘Defiance’, comes roaring in like a tsunami. They describe themselves as ‘Rock’s Rising Tide’ and if you’re lucky you might get cut off with them.

I suppose the band is Norway’s answer to Idles, what with previous tracks titled ‘Imperfection’ and ‘Corrupted’ and a forthcoming one called ‘The Void’, they sound like they’re perfect to accompany a protest march down to the Town Hall and a demand to ‘Free the Oslo Three’ or whatever. They certainly have a similar sound to Idles but they’re altogether more melodic, which is no bad thing.

Tidal Water describe themselves as a “dynamic band, blending rock’s rich heritage with elements of funk and punk (it isn’t often you find those alliterative words in the same sentence), blues, rock and hints of jazz.” The full nine yards, indeed.

There are actually three versions of this song, ‘Defiance’, being released on 30^th July; an original rock version, a radio edit and a drum and bass version under the band name Papa J & Tidal Water’s Digital Noise. If I had the time I’d compare and contrast all three but I haven’t.

They are focusing on the Radio Edit and drum and bass versions but just to be awkward I selected the original version, partly for extended and tasty guitar breaks and partly because it took me back a fair few decades.

They omitted ‘prog’ from their band description but I hear a lot of it here, be it in the time signatures (I wouldn’t like to be keeping time to it on the kit), keys that vary between Keith Emerson and Jools Holland (think Squeeze’s ‘Cool for Cats’), John Bonham drums, the in-your-face attitude of Ian Anderson and a gritty vocal that Family’s Roger Chapman would have been proud of.

Imagine all that at the speed of light and you’ll be on your way to nailing it.

You really need to listen to it three times or more to take in all that is happening but equally you’ll be taken with it first time round and that rarely happens with rock tracks from previously unencountered bands.

I know little about the band and social pages aren’t forthcoming. Their website is more so, and suggests they are a multinational collective with names like Renato Anesi and Txai Fernando that look like they belong on the United Nations’ Security Council.

And I was surprised their following on those social pages is a little thin, still. These lads know what they are doing and I suspect they each have a lengthy history in the business already. I can easily imagine Tidal Water opening for an A-list band in an arena and judging from what I’ve heard here it won’t be long before they are the top of the bill.

For their forthcoming debut album ‘Polarity’ they promise “a musical odyssey from introspective ballads to explosive punkish anthems, tackling societal issues across a tapestry of sound that echoes six decades of musical evolution.”

And I can believe every word of it.

Find them on:

Website: https://tidalwater.info/