It’s always a thrill to hear the unconventional employed in the service of an otherwise-gentle arrangement. I’m not referring to the samples of children at play on Tekla Waterfield’s “Morpheus,” (although, as found sounds go, they are a delight—who can deny the sonorous beauty in the voice of a happy child?), but the buzz that pops up now and again, running through parts of verse, chorus, and break. It’s somewhere between studio hum and slowed sitar, between a guitar string vibrating against a fingernail and the sounds of the spheres with a ton of gain, and it’s used to wonderful effect—never overpowering, never overstaying its welcome, and used to enhance Ms. Waterfield’s gorgeous voice and guitar in a subtractive way by being dropped from the mix at key moments.
Without the audio color of the buzz, this would still be a stunning song. Lilting along on a barely-there strum, strings fingerpicked fully conscious of the others still asleep in the house, finger-bongo and heartbeat percussion, and the softest bass I’ve heard, “Morpheus” does everything in its power to seduce the listener into a drifting, drowsy state—even Waterfield’s lyrics suggest a slow-motion fall into the ether of dreamtime or a bottomless cloud. So sure is she of her abilities that she coyly dares to place a few crescendos in the arrangement, one following the song’s sparest moment, knowing that once the listener has been entranced, they won’t be waking until she’s ready for them to do so.
I’m a bit of a word nerd, so I would be failing myself and my likeminded readers if I didn’t point out the beauty of the connection between title and composition: Morpheus is the son of the personification of sleep (“Hypnos” to the Greeks, “Somnus” to the Romans, “Exhaustion” to the rest of us) who, along with his thousand brothers, make up the characters, flora and fauna, objects and structures, and landscapes—the very fabric—of our dreams. From his name was derived that of the opiate/wonder-drug morphine. Let that sink in as you listen and let Tekla Waterfield guide you into a peaceful place.
Don’t miss your chance to experience this and other Tekla tunes live in person at the Ball of Wax 57 release show, September 14th at the Blue Moon!