Encountering a Visit From the “Watercolor Bride”

Released on May 13, “Watercolor Bride” is the newest folk creation from Gerald Slevin. This project leads up to his forthcoming album, entitled Quantum Jitters, that grapples with the contradictions of love and relationships via the metaphor of quantum entanglement, his most expansive and fully-realized work yet. Slevin is also an accomplished visual artist, creating all of his own cover art with his imagery reflecting the dream-like and layered aural experiences of his music.

“Shortly before moving upstate, on one of my last subway rides, I fell asleep on the train, as I almost always do. Something about dozing off in that surreal subterranean space – where you’re asleep, but aware of strangers all around you and therefore a little guarded – often elicits those strange hallucinatory half-awake dreams. On this particular day, I could see in my mind’s eye the somewhat alien visage of a greenish being in a bridal gown. The colors were washed-out, and the feeling was a vague yearning for someone or something lost. I heard a tune too, but no words. When the train pulled into the station, I lurched up, blasted out of the train car, and the words to the chorus rolled off my tongue. The song evolved over the next hour or so as I walked around Bryant Park in the light early spring rain, waiting for someone who, fortunately for the song, never showed up.”

“Watercolor Bride” does the perfect job in standing out due to its immediate presentation of uniqueness in sound. A steady beat leads forward an array of different instrumentals, and all of this ties together with Slevin’s silky vocals about finding companionship in places people wouldn’t normally look, places found in dreams. Descriptions of moments shared with the watercolor bride and very vivid and full of fantastical life since she only existed in hallucinations. She provided moments that were free of the loneliness found in the real world, and once her presence was no more, this loneliness and the cost of encountering the bride was made ever more apparent. “Watercolor Bride” is a gorgeous homage to everything experienced in moments of tranquility, and deserves a listen from those who can relate or are curious about the topics being discussed.

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