Oskar -LP:2′ (Incarnation)
A bit of a weird one, this. Oskar are based around Nick Powell(once of Strangelove) and Jonny Dawe (once of Collapsed Lung). Over a decade on from their previous heydays, and five years since their last album, they have come together with ‘notional third member’ Sarah Wilson (who has previously collaborated with Belle and Sebastian and Tindersticks).
So, nineties indie pedigrees sorted, what’s the album like? Well, the iTunes player says ‘Unclassifiable’ and it’s absolutely right. Because some tracks are gorgeous and lush, while others sound like the soundtrack to a nightmare, or possibly a nervous breakdown. ‘Richenbach Falls’ particularly is a somewhat disturbing listen. Then again, there’s tracks like ‘Sanatorio’ the closing song on the album. This came to be because Nick Powell was in Spain working on a production of the Marat Sade, the play within a play about the Marquis de Sade trying to stage a play in an insane asylum. This lead to the inhabitants of a psychiatric hospital in Madrid, where he did a workshop, singing and communicating with each other, which must have been quite some experience. It’s also great to see Astrid Williamson (once of Goya Dress, and now a fine solo singer in her own right) croppping up on ‘Printer Tzara.’
So, a strange journey then, one perhaps best taken in bits than as a whole, but with some pretty impressive scenery.
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LP:2 is released on Incarnation Records on June 22.