Gargle - Wading in Shallow Waters (2018)

"Wading in Shallow Waters" is the latest release by instrumental duo Gargle from Tokyo, Japan. The album is a collection of meticulously crafted soundscapes composed with their signature accordion and guitar sound while applying additional components with other items including piano and electronics. Their compositions are inspired by modern classical music as can be heard in their previous collaborative release "Absence" with Bosque de mi Mente.

The album illustrates meandering passages through various scenes and emotions. The opening track Morphine, inspired by Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel Notes From Underground, marks the band's first use of text for their music. The poem was penned by fellow musician Sean Fujimoto (LVV, DrunkenForest, etc.). Furthermore, including the second and third tracks Hibernation and Ephemeral Light, which are now regularly performed at their live performances, the 9 track album can be considered the culmination of Gargle's career.

As with their past releases, the album features collaborations. Other than the aforementioned track Morphine, the disk includes 4 tracks featuring Eva Tribolles of the French electro-punk collective MYCIAA on contrabass. Mixing and mastering duties were performed by Haruhisa Tanaka (PURRE-GOOHN) who had mastered the band's previous album Absence.