A warm and hazy Indie rock tune, Skinny Dippers‘ newest release Night to Day opens with a relaxed, unassuming disposition, only to reveal itself as uniquely lovely and enchantingly personal. Enfolded in the imagery of the dark streets of Brooklyn and its glow of city lights, the subdued hues of the guitars and the deep, gentle movement of the bass create a sonic setting for the story– “Sleepless Brooklyn.”
It’s a story everyone knows. The danger in telling these kinds of stories is that they become stagnant, predictable, flavorless, not unlike leaving a mandarin orange sitting on the counter for too long. No longer soft to the touch, it’s tough to peel and get to the inside; and when you do, it’s a disappointment. So what I love is that frontman and singer/songwriter Ryan Gross tells the familiar story with delightfully unexpected language. He strings one metaphor beside another into a row of verse. An old story becomes more revealed, more personal, more engaging.
It’s the story of a mutual curiosity, of friendship perhaps growing into more. It’s the sense of surreal timelessness that comes from spending time alone together; the sensations of possible romance and wonderings if the other feels the same. Evenings become night, and Night to Day.
It’s the spark that lights the candle’s flame,
the Brooklyn bridge lit up at night,
and the speck in the orange peel rind
Ryan’s lead vocals feel genuine, private, personal– like I opened the door without knocking. The chorus is subtly and brilliantly wrapped in a warm hum of vocal harmonies, saturating my skin with even more human warmth.
Skinny Dippers is a music project based in Brooklyn and formed in 2020. Debut album The City and The Town (2021) is a project and collaboration with neighbors Jordan Dunn-Pilz and Dan Alvarez of the band TOLEDO.
