One of the greatest strengths of New Zealand singer/songwriter Hollie Fullbrook is her ability to take tiny moments and elevate them into winsome narratives. Such is case of "The Crab/Waterbaby", the latest single from her project Tiny Ruins and her first single since 2019's Olympic Girls (and its acoustic companion Olympic Girls Solo). Fullbrook is able to weave an entrancing tale of finding a molting crab on the beach with such deft hand. It's delicately traversed - featuring Fullbrook's voice and guitar for much of its first verse, before the rest of Fullbrook's band glide in to accompany her. Simultaneously sparse with moments of rich textural strokes, "The Crab/Waterbaby" benefits not only from Fullbrook's succinct lyricism but by the band's ability to maneuver around her in a way that accents Fullbrook's vocals while providing these bursts of narrative embellishments. Fullbrook is given room to spin her yarn, gently unfurling her story while also being carried by the fortifying rush of the instrumentation. It's simple but effective - economical in its musical language without sacrificing any nuance and the results is something absolutely magical.
Listen to "The Crab/Waterbaby" by Tiny Ruins out now: