Since bursting out of Lyon, France in 2016, tenacious trio Oakman have been on a collision course with superstardom, and their latest album Violent Oblivion is sure to take them there. It’s the band’s second album for the terminally cool Rude Records and finds Oakman honing their delicious brand of emotionally-charged pop rock to serve up a (lucky) thirteen tracks which shimmer and shine, and will win the heart of even the most hardened music fan.
A good introduction should really set the scene for a coming album, and that’s precisely what ‘I Am Floating…’ does. It’s lithe and ethereal and floats freely like a helium balloon over a pastoral scene. It’s other-worldly and transports the listener to another dimension, and sets things up nicely for opener proper ‘Ricochet’. It’s no secret that Oakman share a love of harmony and melody, and ‘Ricochet’ comes liberally soaked in both. It’s a sugary-sweet song that’s tempered by a soul-searching lyricism, and while you’d think the two would be diametrically opposed, they co-exist.
While Violent Oblivion certainly isn’t made for somnambulists, it has a dreamlike quality that exists in that magical moment between wake and sleep. Lyrically too, it captures that time in life where adolescence meets adulthood and university opens to the world of work. Despite its deceptively low-key ambience, this is an album of change and evolution; tracks such as ‘A Letter To Them’ are very cinematic and remind me of The Sundays circa Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. They wrap the listener in a warm blanket of sound and gently lap at our senses like waves kissing the shore.
Years of treading the boards and sharing stages with the likes of ZZ Top, and supporting Basement and Bukowski and their ilk has found the band honing their craft and the impression that Violent Oblivion gives is of a band at the top of their game and can do no wrong. Whether it’s the upbeat, electrified synthpop of ‘Love Picture Soundtrack’ or the deliciously dark and dreamy title-track, it seems that Oakman have the Midas Touch and everything they lay their hands upon is turning gold.
Such is the emotional connection this album creates that you might feel a bit sad as it reaches its conclusion, but have no fear, you’ll soon be pressing ‘play’ again.
- Violent Oblivion is released via Rude Records on 3rd May 2024.
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Track List:
1. I Am Floating…
2. Ricochet
3. Spiral
4. Proper Attitude
5. Missed Connections
6. Air Hunger
7. I Wish Myself To Be Happier
8. Curse
9. A Letter To Them
10. Violent Oblivion
11. Acte Manque´
12. Love Picture Soundtrack
13. …Faraway In Space, Forever
