Shape of Water is an electronic art rock band formed in 2018 from Manchester, United Kingdom in the grand tradition of projects like Queen, Muse, Depeche Mode, Coldplay, The Killers, and Radiohead. Still, as water has no shape, the band welcomes all listeners into what they refer to as “Genre-Fluid” which translates to “music without boundaries.”
Rox Capriotti and Luca De Falco met in 2004 in their hometown of San Benedetto del Tronto, Italy. The first band they formed together was called The Lotus. Over the following few years, the band had various members step in and out on drums and bass guitar; however, Rox and Luca kept the band on track. In 2015, they relocated to Manchester, UK in search of new musical experiences. The band had a short hiatus period and eventually decided to split up. Rox and Luca remained close, writing music together; however, the rest of the band moved on, and after the breakup of The Lotus, Rox and Luca created Shape of Water.
After writing dozens of songs, they carefully selected the best of the best, and started recording new material in early 2018 with producer Paul Reeve (Muse, Beta Band, Supergrass) at Airfield Studios. The band also brought on Sky Van Hoff (Rammstein, Kreator, Caliban) to mix the songs “Scars” and “Not All the Things,” and the drums on the album were performed by Marco Lancs. The result was a ten-song album entitled Great Illusions, which deals mainly with the misconception of human feelings, politics, and society. While shopping the Great Illusions album for a deal, the band independently released their first Single, “Dancing with Tears in My Eyes,” which is a cover of the song by the British rock band, Ultravox. Coincidentally just a few days after its release, they heard back from Eclipse Records who offered the band a deal with the label.
Great Illusions was released in the Summer of 2020 and received critical acclaim from dozens of respected media outlets including (but not limited to) Classic Rock, Metal.de, Punktastic, Sonic Perspective, and Metallized.it, just to name a few. The band was unable to promote it live due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic; however, the duo was able to quickly adapt by live-streaming several performances which were widely received. Shape Of Water also spent time reinventing some of their songs for an early 2021 EP release entitled Lockdown On Mars, which was produced by Paul Reeve (Muse, Supergrass, Beta Band) and mixed by Rox Capriotti. In early June 2021 the band also released a live EP called Livestream From Mars, recorded during the successful live stream series of the same name.
After the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions, Shape of Water were finally back to play live in the summer of 2021, and they started producing new songs for the second album, many of them written and recorded at home during the first lockdown, with the exception of the drums and wind instruments. After a careful selection, the duo decided to release a double single for Halloween, containing a new song called “A Ghost In Manchester” and a creepy cover of the 50’s hit, “Mr. Sandman,” originally performed by the Chordettes / Four Aces. The world has been calling for more Shape of Water, and they have answered.
The new album by Shape of Water is titled, Amor Fati, Latin for “Love of Fate,” alluding to Nietzsche and the philosophy of determinism which would imply that destiny is already written and we must embrace the meaninglessness of our free will. Interestingly, the band connected this to their music when the song written last titled “Starchild” (appearing first on the album) gave a lens through which to run a thread back through the broadcloth of the other songs and weave this potent, devastating vision. Furthermore, this aesthetic (and rocking) masterpiece delivers a poignant message about isolation as a swansong, speaking to the awesome potential of humankind as we ironically and tragically blend into one another. We wear masks of balance and hope, yet death makes us dust that slips away in the wind. We create powerful machines and build monuments of hope, but we lose ourselves in the process. Other highlights from the album include Words in Eternity, The Snoot, Don’t Leave Me in the Dark, and Falling.
Amor Fati was released on October 28, 2022 via Eclipse Records.
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