Olivia O.'s new EP 'A Great Big Nothing' is a great big success!

Young Atlanta-based singer Olivia Osby, A.K.A. Olivia O., has released her debut solo EP ‘A Great Big Nothing’, ironically it is anything but a great big nothing! The other half of the Lower Town band, a group she formed in college with friend Avsha Weinberg, her solo work comprises Lo-Fi indie sounds like her popular bop ‘Fly Me to the Moon’, which is a must-have on any Sunday chill-mix.

'A Great Big Nothing' is the EP everyone needed back in the Tumblr heyday. Not only is the record a soundtrack to the grunge aesthetic, but Olivia O.'s raw, unique and brutal vocals bring you back to a simpler time where every new song felt rest on young ears.

The opening is the familiar sound of the recently released track ‘All I Want’ as the words jumble together, with layers of vocals and heavy instrumental in between so that only lyrics like “long ago” stand out, echoing throughout the song as she reminisces a past long-gone.

The band is produced by Dirty Hit, however, Olivia prefers to produce the solo music herself, allowing listeners an intimate insight into her thoughts, moods and feelings. An inner monologue of sorts, where her thoughts seem a never-ending battle between both the silence and at the same time the destructive thought patterns that haunt her.

True to its name, 'Battle' describes the chaos of heightened emotions that accompanies love, as she can't hear anything “above the shouting, screeching”, the lyrics are a harsher and grave sound contrasting the soft Lo-Fi Indie sound that seems delicate in comparison.

‘Cocoon’ is bound to resonate, the guitar opening is lighter than the rest of the EP as an upbeat tempo accompanies the whispered lyrics until the remembrance of the “bridges have burned” and that person will “never return” awakens violence in the tempo, representing the conflict of walking away and losing touch with people you were once close with. The song’s instrumental develops into a mixture of emotional sounds that are violent yet beautifully raw.

Olivia O. surprises us with a melancholic opening but the mood lightens with a quick tempo instead replacing the dreamy slow sound of previous songs as the EP progresses. In 'Leaper' her voice takes the lead, with hints of jazz influences in the tempo as an optimistic closer.

The EP is a masterpiece of layers, with dense instrumentals and echoed vocals, Olivia O. has exceeded the Lo-Fi Indie label. The singer has delivered a chef-d’oeuvre filled with solace, sadness, but the promise of solidarity through the beauty in music, as her voice remains a constant whisper in your ear as sometimes all anyone needs a subtle reminder that they are not alone.

Zarina Dempsey 

@zarinadempsey

Image: ALL I WANT Official EP Cover