Beautiful Melancholy: Del Water Gap – “Vanessa”

Del Water Gap

“Vanessa”

This is such a beautiful, melancholy song by Del Water Gap.  If you like Radiohead or Ben Folds or Bright Eyes, you will love the beauty of this band.  Del Water Gap is comprised of band founder S. Holden Jaffe (lead vocals, guitars, harmonica), Charles Schlinkert (drums, percussion), and William Evans (bass, piano, background vocals).  Jaffe has a voice that is reminiscent of Thom Yorke; a beautiful, plaintive voice that drips melancholy and sadness.  Jaffe has said that:

“Vanessa” was written in a basement in Reykjavik, Iceland two years ago while I was working for Valgeir Sigurdsson at Greenhouse Studios. About a week earlier, I had shown up at the Reykjavik airport from London at 2 AM with nowhere to stay, but had scrambled and found a room for rent in this old woman’s basement near the studio. The room was below the ground floor, but I had a little skylight where the midnight-sun would stream in and keep me up. So I did a lot of writing there, nestled in this little suburb of Reykjavik. There was a brook and rabbits everywhere and the light made everything feel very surreal.

I’m not sure what is in the water in Iceland, but some of the most beautiful is written there.  And this is one of those songs.