Beautifully poetic, melodic and dreamy progressions create a hypnotically intimate vibe from the outset as the brand new album from O Memorie softly rains down.
To open things up, the multi-layered trip-hop rhythm and delicacy of Use Me, I Choose You works beautifully. The clarity of the voice, the character in the inflections and tone, this indie-esque freedom and honesty – it all meets with the underlying groove in an unexpectedly intimate way.
Creative freedom is a key trait of the O Memorie sound, and Toska, My Friend, Farewell encapsulates it to a strong degree. The meandering and uninhibited nature of jazz plays into an otherwise fully-loaded folk set-up of various organic instruments.
Consider the fullness of B Movie and the up-front, contrastingly crisp and simple vocal placement alongside it. A recognisable quality, a thread throughout that allows the audience to connect and stay connected to the roots of the music and the stories.
B Movie is an uplifting, melancholic yet strangely bright stand-out. Others include the melodic soulful outpouring of a similarly themed Feature Film, somewhat more accessible in its minimalism and folk-kissed rasp of tiredness and emotive purity.
The style here is something like Johnny Flynn, with an edge of the full-band, electro-pop tones of more mainstream contemporary acts. The softness and breathy intimacy of Parkside Heracles makes for a fine example, and rises up passionately to grip the listener with short lines and a clear sense of evolving energy.
Creatively and expressively a personal favourite, but these passionate, uninhibited undertones run throughout the album, and no doubt it’s a project worth revisiting – one that gifts its audience new insight, new vulnerabilities, each time they delve in.
The build-up of Living On, and that of I, An Artist, showcases a certain freedom of design – heavy bass, fuzzy production, looping rhythms and keys, that ever cleanly-mixed vocal honesty.
Then there’s the lyrical weight, the shock factor and softness combined – You In Another Life – optimistic and dark all at once, beautifully original; another favourite that’s more than worth the time it takes to listen in full.
“It’s a 10-track anthem to embracing ‘the potholes down memory lane’, as Randy Newman might put it, being the antithesis of shame or doubt.”
The integrity of this project is incredibly awakening, shining light on what’s possible in music and art when we let the ideas and the melodies guide us; without fear, and without industry impact or expectation. The longer you spend here, and the more often you visit, the more moving these songs prove to be.
A stunning album, in short – deeply personal, unpredictable, refreshing, powerful, unusual, and faultlessly captured as a genuine moment in time.
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