Crosspross Bells

Austin's Knife in the Water admits in interviews to be influenced by the sound of old blues and gospel, and while it's not easy to detect those roots in the group's music, it's evident in both their deep sense of yearning and their powerful serenity. Crosspross Bells finds them crafting songs that glow with a stark, dreamlike beauty. "Crosshair Chapel" is all slow build and ominousness, a guitars twinkling over a grim, moody bass. "When Trouble Goes to Seed" is a campfire ballad gone cockeyed, all weeping pedal steel and hushed vocals. Knife in the Water might not scream or holler, but there's no mistaking their blues.