NEW ALBUM: OLYA – Utopia
OLYA is a singer/songwriter from Brooklyn, NY who had previously released an EP with the support of a guitar-driven six piece band. For her new EP, Utopia however, she plays almost all her music herself on her computer with only a few acoustic instruments mixed in.
Looking for comparisons, Utopia reminds me of Grimes‘ work: thick synth layers, looped vocals, smacking beats and four of the seven tracks are sung in Russian, which I understand as well as the fantasy language Grimes uses in some of her songs. At first, the English songs are the more accessible ones: Lift Me Up, which deceives you with a mellow piano line before it morphs into a dance banger, Under My Control with its cinematic arrangements and my personal favorite Crash and Burn. But even without understanding the lyrics, the other tracks are delightful pieces of electro pop – in particular the opener Misli gets you in the mood with a bouncy 8-bit synth line.
On stage, OLYA reproduces much of the album with keyboards and a looping mic, supported by soon-to-be husband Garret on electronics and congas. She’s presenting her new album on June 13th at Bar Matchles, as part of the Northside Festival. Connect with OLYA on Facebook and/or Twitter.
Utopia is out now on Bandcamp and iTunes. Treat yourself to the beautifully packaged physical copy of Utopia which is available as limited edition only! You can get the CD on Bandcamp too.
See OLYA live:
Socials