In the over saturated market of electronic music it’s unusual for an artist to really rise your curiosity but producer ‘Water’ is the enigma behind the mystery we all want to disentangle, and the songs we can’t stop playing.
When i-D online first heard the EP ‘Sluts’ (available to download from the Water website) we fell in love with the stripped back re-fixes of the most successful women in pop: Lady Gaga, Britney, Rihanna, Mariah, all slowed down and crunked up. But that’s where the story ends. Try and find something, anything, about ‘Water’ and you’ll fail. There’s nothing but the track. And now this new one, called ‘Scene from a Hotel Suite’, premiering right here on i-D online. Begging for a bone, the press people at ‘Water’ would only reveal this backstory of the song…
From the Press Office for “Water”, November 2012:
I myself have never met “Water” nor have we ever enjoyed any verbal contact. The only communication ever made was on the day I agreed to take on the act when, upon arriving at my office one morning, I found at my door the collection of music now known as the “Sluts EP” and a fruit basket. Inside the fruit basket was a note, hand-written in blue ink from a fountain pen with the following:
“If Yes, then eat the papaya. Otherwise desist.”
As you can guess from the header of this document, I listened to the EP and enjoyed an impressively ripe papaya. Unfortunately with no effective way of contacting “Water” and having never actually met, there is very little I can offer with regards to interviews or information. Nonetheless, I believe that the following will be of interest to those who have so far enjoyed the music. On the day that I received the music and fruit, I later that night had a dream in which the following occurred. (However, the public should know that I have suffered from long-distance somnambulism for the past 3 years and the experience was so vivid that I’m inclined to remain ambivalent in arguing its reality or non-reality).
I was walking through West London as the sun was rising. The streets were completely empty. Eventually I came to the K-West Hotel and headed down a side-alley that one of its sidewalls faced. All of the windows on this wall had their curtains drawn apart from one very well-lit suite that aroused my curiosity. I climbed a nearby oak in order to be able to know more and as I peered into the glass I saw the most bizarre scene. Gathered together in this hotel suite was every pop act featured on the “Sluts” EP. Lady Gaga was sitting by a dresser with a packet of half a dozen eggs, piercing them with small holes and sucking on them. Britney Spears had built a pillow fort on the master bed and had rolled herself in bedding whilst shouting “I am the Duvet Slug!”. Mariah Carey was rolling on the floor, surrounded by half-eaten room service crème caramels and clutching her stomach in pain (none of the others seemed to take any notice). Rihanna was hoovering the room and seemed noticeably content. Diplo was in the corner of the room, sitting on his knees and gazing into a standing mirror. He was naked and occasionally would flex his arms. As I peered in closer I was able to see in the reflection of the mirror that he was crying.
A simple piece of piano music played in my head throughout the scene, but when I awoke I could not remember it. Then, when I arrived at my office the next morning I found at my door a tape with the very same piece of piano music from the dream! It was entitled “Scene From A Hotel Suite” and was by “Water”.
Yours,
Jibraaiyl Ifritah
Senior Vice President
Lion’s Raw Press and Public Relations
Introduction: Laura Hinson
