If you’re at all familiar with either project, you’ll have a good idea of what to expect from rose, water, fountain. We once said bedbug’s music “exists in a kind of wistful flux, like that feeling of watching the seasons change from a quiet window,” and the description stands pretty well for this EP too. The songs draw on bedroom pop and (more subtly) emo and mid-90s era Modest Mouse to fashion something nostalgic and yearning, a feeling summed up perfectly by a line in closing track ‘infinite (out of time)’—”and I love feeling lonely for you.”

There’s a notable sense of cohesion across the release, despite the fact this is a side project and the result of two artists coming together and sharing the writing process. Each song possess the same lo-fi percussion, the same earnest vocals. But it’s more than that, something intangible and near-abstract, a spirit or ethos that unites bedbug and Puppy Problems and makes their collaboration special.

But that’s not to say every song sounds the same. Some, like ‘the last generation to go to hell’ gather in momentum (and volume), while others remain mellow throughout. Take for example opener ‘regular blue’, which sounds like taking a stroll in the evening golden hour, full of quiet gladness and hope for the future. “after all this time,” goes its final line, “something good coming down the line,” and somehow it feels like it really is.

rose, water, fountain is out now and you can get it from Bandcamp. Also be sure to check out the Puppy Problems Bandcamp and the Bedbug Bandcamp for their solo releases.

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