The Water Is High: Songs Of Love, Lies, And Freedom, is the 22nd album by Long Island-based multi-discipline, multi-award winner singer-songwriter Dr. Richard Michelson (stage name: MOTU). Released in 2023, the 41-minute album features the collaborative talents of Dee Michelson (vocals), Ed Modzel (drums), Bob Rush (keyboards, harmonica), and on vocals and a wealth of fretboard instruments is MOTU (a/k/a Dr. Rich) on 10 new original songs written by Dr Rich.  

On the surface, The Water Is High has a wonderful, guitar-driven blues-rock feel with strong harmonies by MOTU and Dee. However, beneath that surface is a unique poetry in motion with a variety of current events commentaries, via socially conscious lyrics, describing the struggle of the human condition. MOTU backs up this poetry performing skillfully upon a variety of string instruments including high-energy electric fusion jazz guitar, slide dobro, pedal steel guitar, banjo, acoustic blues guitar, mandolin, and even sitar. 

The album begins with “I’m Just Here Playin’ In This Band” which is an electric jazz tune sung soulfully by Dee Michelson, which eventually morphs into rock fusion with MOTU’s John McLaughlin speed-style lead guitar riffs. The lyrics paint a picture of helplessness faced with a society at war with itself almost like the band performing on the Titanic as it sank.   It sets the trend of the album as it moves into the title song, track 2, “The Water is High”, which is a unique Delta-style song that has almost a Peter Gabriel style strangeness. The evocative harmonies of Dee and MOTU smoothly present lyrics of a desperate individual trying to hang on to anything to avoid being swept away by a storm. It is a tune that is difficult to get out of your head once you hear it.

The album's third song, “That Last Summer Breeze”, switches gears sounding like a jazz-blues, smokey bar room number with Dee once again delivering with awesome vocals and ending with MOTU doing a jazzy electric mandolin lead.

Track 4, “The Brotherhood of Man”, is an acoustic piece with pedal steel guitar, banjo, and beautiful melodic harmonies sung again by both Dee and MOTU with lyric poetry about war, immigration, and global brotherhood.  

Track 5, “Are You the Man I’ve Been Waiting For?”, is pure blues rock with Dee showing us again how she can dominate this genre. Bob Rush does some amazing ripping Chicago style harmonica solos with Ed Modzel doing Charlie Watts style drums.

Track 6, “Lovely Day for a Moon Walk”, is a fusion instrumental where MOTU pays tribute to Jeff Beck using some of Beck’s better known guitar tricks along with some excellent bits sounding at times like Jimi Hendrix, Joe Satriani or Steve Vai and even including a lead part on electric sitar.

“Can We All Rise Above?”, track 7, starts off sounding like a Pink Floyd tune but then moves into MOTU’s trademark deep poetic commentaries on power-seeking, self-serving corruption and the fragility of a higher social concept. It is followed by the assuring track 8, “Don’t You Worry, It’s Gonna Be Alright”, and the lighter break-up song track 9, “I’ll Fly Away”, with driving guitar leads and lovely rock harmonies.

The album ends with the beautiful and haunting, “Walk With Me For One More Mile,” which deals with faith, strength, and love from the perspective of someone facing their own mortality.

A great spin, start to finish, The Water Is High: Songs Of Love, Lies, And Freedom is a musical piece of art showing that this 22nd MOTU album is a maturity of expression beyond the normal that is definitely worth checking out.