Review: "There Must Be Something In The Water" by Niki Moss

“There Must Be Something In The Water” is the second single released by Niki Moss. It’s an impressive, high energy move with a strong psychedelic underpinning, full of radical transitions that don’t quite make logical sense. Take a sip of Niki’s sonic H20 and it’ll take you places.

After a flutey intro, the track enters on a driving beat and a crunchy guitar lick ablaze. Someone yells that they feel like they’re floating. Nice. We’re on the flower-power bus to groove in cloud city.

All of the sudden, with all that momentum, the bus crashes. Some downers must have kicked in because all that’s left is a realization that something… must… be… in the… water…

At 0:31, so early in the song, the listener is completely taken off guard with these sparse, synchronized hits. I was like, wait, what?

As drums fade back in we enter a new take on the opening riff. The next poisoned water realization is accompanied by a bit more of a beat over some acid-jazz mid-range synth pad. At about 1:50 the wait is over; we finally get a sense of a groove as the infected water settles in.

Moss ventures into modern, aggressively fine-tuned hits accompanied by well-played drums fills. Flutes and harpsichord place it with Italian psychedelic folk bands of the 70s. While the world struggles below in chaos, a glistening theremin-like sound drifts on top in artful quirky resonance.

My favorite section is around 2:45 when these sparkly baroque melodies punctuate over a racing tambourine and driving cymbal-led drum beat. I think I laughed out loud because it reminded me of a Wii MarioKart soundtrack.

The song ends in a bombastic rhythmic outro, with interesting syncopation and experimental Eastern sounds. All in all, I really enjoyed this song. Though the track bounces around a ton, there are consistent motifs interwoven in and out to make it feel cohesive.

It’s a rad journey. If you like it, check out Nikki Moss’s previous single Soylent Green as well.