Secretly Canadian have picked up Bodies of Water’s arresting ’07 debut and now this haunting, spiritual suite will surely find the devoted flock the band clearly deserves. Fans of Arcade Fire, Polyphonic Spree and Danielson Family take note, but also note that Bodies of Water are great songwriters and talented arrangers in their own right, layering rock instrumentation with horns, strings, keys, and joyous, soaring voices.

Bodies of Water's debut album was self-released by the band last summer to a fair amount of web rumblings and accolades, generally citing a similar hodge-podge of ambitious, vaguely spiritual taste-makers as sonic inspiration, from Arcade Fire to Polyphonic Spree to Danielson Family. Now picked up by Secretly Canadian, Ears Will Pop and Eyes Will Blink is poised to be seen and heard, perhaps with a pop and a blink, by a much wider audience. Their sound is full-bodied and inspirational (both musically and lyrically), built around the layered voices of BOW's four main members (boy-girl boy-girl, like the good lord intended), and a batch of wordy, soaring, lovingly twisted songs of faith and devotion and passions both earthly and divine.

The music is dense and organic, with rock instrumentation buttressed by strings, horns, keyboards and those voices, harmonizing, weaving rhythmic counterpoints and counter-melodies, or just raising the roof in unison. The results are strangely embracing and alluring, comparable perhaps to the feeling I get on summer Sundays, sitting in my back yard, listening to the Baptist gospel singers in full swing at the lovely brick church that looms over our block; I may not believe in all of the tenets of their faith, but hearing those voices join together still fills me with unadulterated joy. Add to the list of simple pleasures smart, hook-filled songwriting, adventuresome arrangements and emotional vocalists who are as powerful as soloists as they are in the chorus, and you have a great album that lurked on quite a few best-of lists in '07, and should be seeing even more in '08. [JM] (January 23, 2008)