The High Water Marks
THE HIGH WATER MARKS | ECSTASY RHYMES (LP) + “JENNY” (SINGLE) | MINTY FRESH | OUT NOW
Bio:
“I am so lucky to have been a musician throughout my life,” says Hilarie Sidney of The High Water Marks, the band she fronts out of her adopted home town of Grøa, Norway. The foursome is set to release a new single “Jenny,” the first new music following the release of Ecstasy Rhymes, its first album in 13 years, nearly a year ago.
“Jenny” arrives via Minty Fresh on Sept. 24th, 2021 and kicks off a series of singles that will culminate in another all-new album Proclaimer of Things from the band in Feb. 2022.
“That’s a song that came out super fast,” Sidney says. "I was playing the chord progression and immediately singing, ‘Jenny’s got herself a friend and she wants to stay out late.’ Per Ole (Sidney’s husband and bandmate) said he had a chorus that would suit, and five minutes later we’re playing the entire song.”
Sidney says she tried to come up with other lyrics, but the original ones just stuck.
“I had heard of Jenny, but I never met her,” Sidney says, mysteriously. “She was known as somewhat of a legend around these parts. Everyone talks about what she did and acts as if they know her, but the truth is, no one can really know Jenny. She is unknowable, but I’d like to.”
With The High Water Marks making lots of waves with new music these days, it’s worth taking a moment to remember how we probably know Sidney best.
During her pre-Norway years living in Denver, Colorado, Sidney became the co-founder of one of the most influential musical collectives of the past, oh, forever amount of years.
Elephant 6 is a storied, and now legendary, musical collective and Sidney was at its nucleus as a founding member of The Apples in stereo.
It was a “boys club,” Sidney confesses.
Sidney was the only woman among her band and the other two acts – Neutral Milk Hotel and Olivia Tremor Control – that were the most visible members of Elephant 6, and as the umbrella opened to international recognition and acclaim, and to seemingly dozens of other bands that wanted to be a part, Sidney’s enthusiasm drifted.
Her passion for songwriting never wavered, however.
“Having been in the Apples and on the road since 1993, I started to have many more songs than could ever be released on an Apples record. I was piling up songs, and being surrounded by a group of men for so many years, one can lose oneself,” she confides.
Sidney eventually found new love, and a new musical partnership, when she formed The High Water Marks, releasing a debut album (Songs About The Ocean) in 2003. The record was written and demoed through the mail with her now-husband and bandmate, Per Ole Bratset, whom she initially met at an Apples gig in Norway in 2002. A follow-up album (Polar) arrived in 2007.
By that time, Sidney and Bratset were an item.
“Per and I had our son in 2005,” Sidney says of becoming a mother for the second time (Sidney also has a son from their marriage.) “I realized I wanted a break from touring. That whole life had begun to wear me out.”
The fallout from Sidney’s divorce, and life as a mom with two boys, led her to officially leave the Apples in 2006 and to put the music business on the back burner soon after.
“Still writing songs, always writing songs...”
With that, Sidney attempted to clean out the closet in 2011, leading to some recording sessions that eventually had to be scrapped, and leaving her to feel “kind of hopeless,” she remembers.
But drummers are tough!
Sidney picked herself up and headed in another direction by beginning to finish up a Bachelor’s degree, which led to her being awarded a prestigious study abroad scholarship at the University of Oslo.
“Moving was everything I had hoped it would be,” she explains. “In Norway, we have a work-life balance, health care, a living wage, five weeks of vacation, and freedom for our youngest son to roam without constant supervision.”
Perhaps most importantly, she started playing music again.
Thirteen years after releasing her last album as The High Water Marks, the band has completed a new album that reflects the maturity, perseverance, songwriting, and performing talent that made Sidney’s contributions to Elephant 6 and the Apples so integral.
If she was marginalized at the time, those notions are blown out by Ecstasy Rhymes, 38 minutes of perfect power pop, one song after another that will take any fan of the songs that Sidney contributed to Apples recordings – her voice is instantly recognizable – right back to the most potent days of that band’s career.
As he did on previous releases, Bratset also contributes lead vocals on several songs, all of which were co-written with Sidney. In addition to Sidney on Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards, and Drums, and Bratset on Vocals and Guitars, the band includes Logan Miller on Bass, Guitar, and Drums, along with Øystein Megård on Drums. Keyboards, and Backing Vocals.
“I feel like for the first time ever, we have a dream team,” Sidney says. “I have my partner in crime by my side, like always, but we managed to also find these two other fantastic people who we can work with so well. We finally have the best band we’ve ever had and a great record.”
Seems Sidney’s luck as a musician hasn’t run out yet.
Ecstasy Rhymes, the first album in 13 years by The High Water Marks is out now. The band’s latest single “Jenny” arrives Sept. 24th, 2021 and will appear on another all-new album Proclaimer of Things, scheduled for release in Feb. 2022 on Minty Fresh.
NEWS:
PRESS QUOTES:
“Instantly recalls the heyday of Elephant 6, with an earworm melody nestled in fuzzy indie rock production.”
“Clock-stopping, pulse-raising mega-pop.”
“Complex and considered arrangements... Sugar-coated melodies to spare.”
“Beautifully warm, catchy, high-energy... garage pop for the masses.”
“Winning post-punk pop that’s heavy on the fuzz.”
“Giddy pop... Punchy songwriting... Undeniably sunny.”
“Get a fix of the exquisitely crafted brand of lo-fi rock.”
“It’s classic indie rock, yeah, but there is something more coursing through its melodic veins, resulting in a wry distillation of influence and experience which few bands can express with any sense of finality. The High Water Marks manage this herculean task without the least bit of effort.”
“Top-notch indie pop-rock tracks abound.”
“Norway is also known as one of the happiest countries in the world. With its bright indie rock sound and upbeat melodies, this album is certainly evidence of that.”
“‘Ecstasy Rhymes’ seems to give 90’s indie pop/rock a fresh new look and it sounds fantastic.”
“A stripped down and almost punky take on the E6 sound that Sidney helped invent.”
PRESS RELEASES:
SOCIALS:
LISTEN:
Bandcamp: thehighwatermarks.bandcamp.com
Spotify: spoti.fi/3gsT21U
Apple: apple.co/3llpEho
Assets:
The High Water Marks (L-R): Logan Miller, Hilarie Sidney, Per Ole Bratset, Øystein Megård. Photo credit: Self-Portraits, Illustration by Per Ole Bratset. Click for hi-res.
The High Water Marks (Clockwise from Upper Left): Logan Miller, Hilarie Sidney, Øystein Megård, Per Ole Bratset. Photo credit: Self-Portraits, Illustration by Per Ole Bratset. Click for hi-res.
The High Water Marks (L-R): Logan Miller, Hilarie Sidney, Per Ole Bratset, Øystein Megård. Photo credit: Self-Portraits, Illustration by Per Ole Bratset. Click for hi-res.
Ecstasy Rhymes cover art. Click for hi-res.
“Can You” single cover art. Click for hi-res.
“Award Show” single cover art. Click for hi-res.
“The Trouble With Friends” single cover art. Click for hi-res.