In recent years, the so-called indie music scene has spawned a bunch of bands that prefix their names with O as in O Children, O Emperor, or O’Death – probably because the un-prefixed names had already been taken. Let’s call it the age of the O bands. And then there’s Nanna Øland Fabricius, a former ballet dancer from the outskirts of Copenhagen, better known by her stage name Oh Land.
Her approach to songwriting reaches beyond melody to touch on shared experience; her music simultaneously incorporates the whirrs, tics, and thumps of machinery and the soft, human tug of strings and delicately layered vocals. While touring extensively on 2011’s self-titled album, a collection of opulent, dream-like numbers, Nanna found herself looking to create something more minimalistic. She began working on new music in 2012, inspired by the idea of paring the music down to a sparser structure.
Fast forward to 2013, Oh Land is now on tour promoting her third record Wish Bone that came out earlier this year.
“What does it sound like? What does it smell like? What does it look like? How does it feel? I always ask myself these questions when I’m writing… I think that Oh Land has a unique landscape all on its own. I strive to make the possibilities endless and to have all the senses collide in to a language on their own.” (Oh Land)
Support comes from the Berlin based band Ballet School, which is funny considering that Oh Land uses to be a ballet dancer. The trio comprising Rosie, (from Ireland), Michel (Japanese-Brazilian) and Louis (originally from Leeds, UK) released their debut EP titled Boys Again through Bella Union on October 18th. If I hadn’t known better, I’d thought I was listening to a release from the 80s rather than a contemporary band. From start to finish, the EP sounds like the music my parents would listen to when I was a child. Check out their track Heartbeat Overdrive and you’ll know what I mean.
Thanks to the wonderful people of fkpScorpio, Blitzgigs is giving away a double pass to the show! To grab your free tickets, just email us at winwinwin@blitzgigs.de with your full name and the answer to the following easy question:
What’s the name of the new album from Oh Land?
Competition closes 12:00, Monday November 18th. Good luck!
