7/10

Under the name Watercolored, Itai Bauman conjures entire emotional landscapes. With his latest full-length effort 'Tears of the Sea', he charts a course through vulnerability, memory, and inner turbulence, crafting an ambient voyage that feels equal parts surreal and grounding.

Rather than following a predictable arc, 'Tears of the Sea' unfolds like a dream where the sky meets the depths. Tracks shift like weather systems; some heavy with thunder, others weightless and translucent. The opening moments pull you in with hypnotic tones, only to reveal waves of layered instrumentation that suggest everything from post-rock melancholy to baroque theatrics.

There’s a deliberate pace to the album, a sense that nothing here is rushed. 'The Chase' moves with hushed urgency, offering a glimpse into Bauman’s personal reckoning, while 'Waterflowers' shimmers with hazy warmth, like sunlight refracting through a tidepool. But it’s 'Ocean Stream', one of the album’s most affecting tracks, that anchors the project. Its late-night intimacy and spatial production evoke a lonely rooftop in Berlin, eyes cast toward the infinite.

What makes 'Watercolored' stand out is Bauman’s unflinching commitment to his narrative. Drawing from eclectic influences, including echoes of Porcupine Tree’s moody expansiveness and Mercury Rev’s celestial wanderings, he manages to create something deeply singular.

'Tears of the Sea' is a record that rewards patience. It doesn’t beg for attention with hooks or flashy production, it beckons gently, asking only that you surrender to its currents. And once you do, it leaves a lingering impression: not a storm, but a slow, beautiful drift into emotional depth.