Rising from the synths as though born from them, Rosie Long Decter’s voice brushes over your being on the newest Bodywash single, “Kind of Light.” The duo (Long Decter and Chris Steward), who have been relatively quiet since the release of their debut album in 2019, now sign to Light Organ Records and are joined by longtime drummer Ryan White for a collection of new songs, of which “Kind of Light” is the first. These songs were written, as is common to see nowadays, all throughout the early days of the pandemic. With so much time to sit with ideas, things have changed for Bodywash. This new group of songs, developed with mixing engineer Jace Lasek, signals a new direction for the band as they unravel a more sinister side of their synth sound, veering away from the cushy dream-pop of before.
Their synths hold you in honey, all slow-moving sweetness at first, until you realize that, like a fly, there is a trapping element to this. The music that seemed friendly and easy takes on a darker undertone, with wobbling lines that make you unsure of your stability. Of creating the song, Long Decter comments, “I sent [Steward] back chords, a kick pattern, and some vocals about trying to pull your legs back; trying to take your energy out of the wreckage and put it into yourself. The process of deciding what’s worth keeping, what can be reworked and what gets tossed in the fire. A process that is devastating and also weirdly invigorating, because you can see new possibilities opening up in front of you. And you can start to look for light somewhere else.”
Watch the accompanying visuals created by Yoon Rachel Nam below, along with Bodywash’s 2019 Paste Studio session.
