Babehoven Preview Sophomore Album ‘Water’s Here In You’ With “Birdseye” Video

New York state-based duo Babehoven have announced their sophomore album Water’s Here In You (April 26, Double Double Whammy) and shared the video for its lead single and opener, “Birdseye.”

Maya Bon and Ryan Albert wrote and recorded the follow-up to their acclaimed 2022 debut Light Moving Time at their Hudson Valley home studio 12 Lb Genius in the winter of 2022-2023. The album “​​continues the thread of the band’s sonic DNA—blending hyper-melodic indie and folk rock with shades of shoegaze and the occasional nod toward country,” as a press release puts it, and is imbued with a newfound cohesion, as instrumentalist, producer and engineer Albert joined Bon as a songwriter for the first time.

The first (to us, anyway) fruit of that deepening union is the tender and cathartic “Birdseye,” in which Bon’s narrator reconnects with a gravely ill estranged family member. “‘Birdseye’ is about the fragility and mystery of life, forgiveness and reconnection. The bird’s eye view with ‘one long arrow pointed at you’ represents love from afar, a cardinal direction,” Bon explains in a statement. “It is a song about warmth, represented by the aromatic spices ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon in the heat of a stew. Steeped in a perfumed simmer of care, we move through the pain and find a way to forgive.”

Over bittersweet acoustic chords reminiscent of Kings of Convenience, and later backed by mournful violin, Bon serenades her narrator’s dying relative, her emotions overflowing as she reconnects with them on their way out of this world: “I wish there, wish there were a token / I could give you, I could give you for the passage,” she sings. From the track’s titular vantage point, she sees none of the strife that may have marred this relationship, only the love at its roots. Electric guitar squalls elevate the song another notch as it crescendos, and an abrupt ending leaves us in a place of both forgiveness and emptiness.

Babehoven will tour North America this spring in support of Water’s Here In You, starting May 5 in Washington, D.C., and working their way across the country, with stops in Brooklyn, Chicago and Los Angeles, before wrapping up in Seattle on June 14. Tickets go on sale Friday, Feb. 16, at 10 a.m. local.

In the meantime, you can find Babehoven’s tour dates and the Water’s Here In You track list below, watch the “Birdseye” video (dir. Ash Kron) above, stream the track here and preorder the album here.

Water’s Here In You Track List:

1. Birdseye

2. My Best Friend Needs

3. Dizzy Spin

4. Millenia

5. Lonely, Cold Seed

6. Chariot

7. Cherry

8. Lightness is Loud

9. Perfect

10. Rocket

11. Good to See You

12. Ella’s From Somewhere Else

Babehoven Tour Dates:

5/6: Washington DC – DC9 ❁

5/7: Brooklyn, NY – Baby’s All Right ~

5/8: Boston, MA – Rockwood %

5/10: Montreal, QC – La Sotterenea ^

5/11: Toronto, ON – The Baby G ^ 

5/13: Milwaukee, WI – Cactus Club ^ ∞

5/14: Minneapolis, MN – 7th St Entry ^

5/15: Chicago, IL – Sleeping Village ^ ∞

5/16: Columbus, OH – Ace of Cups ^

5/17: Pittsburgh, PA – Club Cafe ^

5/18: Philadelphia PA – Johnny Brenda’s ^

6/8: Phoenix, AZ – Linger Longer Lounge *

6/9: Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo *

6/10: San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop *

6/12: Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall *

6/13: Vancouver, BC @ Fox Cabaret *

6/14: Seattle, WA @ Barboza *

❁ w/ Grocer and Aunt Katrina

~ w/ Knifeplay

% w/ Dimitri Giannopoulos (Horse Jumper of Love) and Hello Shark

^ w/ Greg Mendez

∞ w/ Mia Joy

* w/ Stephen Steinbrink