Collaboration can often breathe new life into an artist’s work, pushing their sound into uncharted territory. Water Season, the new EP from Brazilian-American indie artist Winter and glitchy Philly duo Hooky, is a perfect example of this phenomenon. Set for release on February 14, 2025, via Julia's War Recordings, the four-track offering is an immersive blend of dreamy indie textures, electronic experimentation, and intimate songwriting.
Winter (Samira Winter) and Hooky (Scott Turner and Sam Silbert) first connected online as mutual admirers of each other's work, and their creative chemistry was undeniable from the start. Winter’s previous EP, ...and she’s still listening (2024), saw her incorporating trip-hop, spoken word, and electronic influences into her already ethereal sound, while Hooky’s fourth album Mirage (2024) was a reverb-drenched, genre-blurring take on shoegaze and electronica. The resulting Water Season is the natural progression of these sonic explorations, creating a wistful and glitchy dreamscape that feels both intimate and otherworldly.
The lead single, and the EP's opening track, “horseshoe,” is a hypnotic introduction to the EP, built on wiry guitars, shimmering synths, and a pulsing electronic beat. Winter’s airy vocals float above the instrumental like a half-remembered dream, delivering earnest lyrics with a weightless quality. The accompanying DIY music video, self-directed by the trio and filmed in Philadelphia’s John Heinz Park and the Museum of Modern Art, perfectly encapsulates the song’s nostalgic, transient energy. It’s a portrait of new friendships forming in real-time, mirroring the organic way Water Season came together.
The EP continues on with the track “in your pocket,” a lo-fi, skittering track that layers chopped-up shoegaze textures with subtle trip-hop rhythms. The EP's third track, “lost tears,” leans further into the duo’s electronic sensibilities, featuring distorted vocal samples around Samira and Scott's dueling vocals, and also features a haunting, melancholic melody that lingers long after the song ends. Water Season closes out with the song, “i like you,” is a delicate and heartfelt finale, combining Winter’s signature dream-pop aesthetics with Hooky’s glitch-infused production to create a track that feels both deeply personal and universally resonant.
Water Season is an impressive collaboration that finds both Winter and Hooky stepping out of their comfort zones while staying true to their artistic identities. It’s a collection of songs that feel ephemeral yet immersive, like capturing the last golden hour of summer before autumn’s chill sets in. Fans of dreamy indie, experimental electronica, and nostalgic soundscapes will find plenty to love in this short, approximately ten-minute-long but impactful release.
Winter and Hooky’s Water Season is a testament to the magic that happens when artists with distinct yet complementary styles come together. These four tracks are a beautiful, fleeting snapshot of a musical connection that feels both fresh and familiar, leaving listeners hoping for more collaborations in the future.