SINGLE REVIEW: MACARTNEY REINHARDT - TWO SHIPS

When the accompanying video appears for "Two Ships" the latest single by Macartney Reinhardt, they are going to have to shoot it in CinemaScope to have any chance of matching the drama on the record, replayed on screen. This is by far Macartney's biggest sound to date, yet for all of the ambitious soundscape it is still her voice up front that leads the way and steals the show.

The opening immediately sets a dramatic scene, guitars, a banjo, strings and random percussion converge to give a definite sense of foreboding. We already know from the cover picture of a solemn looking Macartney staring at the camera from a craggy outcrop that this is not going to be a happy tale. Dressed all in white she is a veritable lighthouse, piercing the gloom, with her presence.

"Found a polaroid picture in the back of a bathroom drawer

We both look so different, It's like I don't even know us no more"

 Lyrically there is the double alliteration of the "Polaroid Picture", along with "Back" and "Bathroom" which help enforce the narrative. Anything that the lyrics can do is matched by Macartney's delivery, the final delivered with a real sense of frustration.

The next lines have their own sense of rhythm, Macartney blurs them into one another, as she reflects back to happier times pulling all things nautical into the lyrics.

"I remember that day, those waves, our names

Written down by the shore

We were both feet in, we were sink or swim,

We were both on board"

The chorus is a barrage of sound, yet each instrument can be clearly picked out, it is not a blur of sound just for the sake of it.

"How'd we go from always on the phone to deafening silence

How'd we get from every sunset, to living on our own damned island

I was your lifeline, you were mine, like guiding lights in the dead of night

How'd we go from three little words, rolling right off of our lips

To "Two Ships".

The oxymoron of "deafening silence" is powerful, the disdain with which the words "damned island" are delivered and the talk of "lifelines" and "guiding lights" only reinforce how close this couple once were.

"It all happened so slowly, then it happened baby all at once

Was it holding on way too closely, a death by a thousand paper cuts"

The end of the second chorus sees a veritable crew of sailors effectively providing an almost sea shanty like chant. It is undoubtedly clever studio wizardry but it is beautifully handled.

"Passing in the hallway, nothing left to say

The third visit to the chorus sees the sound drop considerably for the opening two lines, leaving barely any percussion and just a sole Spanish guitar, before the full sound returns. The final soundscape conjures up the sound of a violent sea, the percussion now seems to include anything that can be hit, the sailors chant, the strings swirl. As Macartney sings the title one last time, the only sound left is the calming spanish guitar as if signalling that the storm has passed.

Lyrically and musically this is gripping drama, it's a break up song of sorts, keeping the sea theme going, this is a couple that have drifted apart. It is a perfectly put together package that shows the inventiveness and attention to detail that #TEAMw21 have come to expect. Heaven knows quite how all this will transfer into a live performance, for now we will just savour the single.

Two Ships - Pre Save Link https://onerpm.link/243171059536