2020’s lockdowns undoubtedly spawned a string of formidable new musical initiatives, some extra visionary than others – a lot of which have already met their inevitable demise. It’s not at all a brand new story, but the newest providing from cult label Speedy Wunderground retells the story with contemporary vitality. Birthed from an period of vacant streets and shuttered venues are O., a duo seemingly united in a need to make as a lot noise as attainable, with as few devices.
On their debut EP ‘Slice’, drummer Tash Keary and baritone saxophonist Joseph Henwood overlap genres to make a document with one foot within the capital’s historic jazz bars and one other in its underground venues south of the river. Scooping an eclectic mixture of our most vibrant music scenes onto one EP, O. handle to expertly tread the road between the pressing vitality of experimental rock and jazz improvisation.
With manufacturing from Dan Carey that rigorously captures O.’s frenzied dwell vitality, ‘Slice’ shines in its means to ship the surprising. Moments of stillness ascend into weighty pressure, earlier than collapsing into sudden crescendos of unstable drive. It’s in these moments that the challenge’s origin as a jam session comes into focus, and their strengths reveal themselves.
A constant thread of urgency, emphasised by Keary’s frantic drumming, weaves itself all through the 4 tracks, looping via the eerie, spy film soundtrack-esque opening of ‘Moon’ to the dense reverb that underlines ‘Grouchy’. Finest, although, is title observe ‘Slice’, which in some way channels equal ranges of chaotic darkness and clear pleasure. Elsewhere, ‘ATM’ teeters additional into punk with its glitchy, otherworldly manipulation of Henwood’s sax, which is reimagined to exist in one other realm from its unique type.
Two artists with an plain synergy, O.’s debut is an announcement that always feels menacing whereas additionally providing actual moments of brightness and euphoria. It’s a sensory overload that’s as indebted to the unpredictable nature of dwell music as to its easy origins as a pandemic jam session.
Particulars
- Launch date: November 24
- Report label: Speedy Wunderground
