Review | O. – WeirdOs

Label: Speedy Wunderground

London-based instrumental duo O. is not afraid of the abstract. Their debut album ‘WeirdOs‘ brings listeners to an improvisational, ominous sonic panorama in an anthology befitting of its appellation. Their 2023 EP ‘Slice‘ introduced the world to the dyad’s unique sound, comprised of a baritone saxophone, played by Joseph Henwood, and solid drum set backbone, established by Tash Keary. Their individualistic take on instrumental music has caught the attention of various music outlets, such as NME and Line of Best Fit, with only the EP and a few singles under their belt. Showcasing a lengthier vessel of innovation, ‘WeirdOs‘ takes experimentality into a haunting hurricane of distorted bari sax, electronic sounds, and vivid drumming, flaunting the pair’s originality and imagination.

‘Intro‘ opens with gentle wind chimes followed by a droning soundscape and eventual electronic clicking and rattling. Its foreboding sonics build up as a bass tone quickly floods over, joined by a blitz of expeditious drum fills interspersed with cymbal strikes. As drum fills transform solely into cymbal work, the droning soundscape vehemently grows, creating a sonic storm, before fading to a gentle undertone. 

‘Intro‘ flows into ‘167‘ and the new track opens immediately with a distorted saxophone melody and hip-hop underlay. As the tune develops, Keary dips her toes into a rock beat pool for a few phrases before returning to the funky hip-hop substructure while Henwood holds down the fort, bellowing a consistent melody. The head-bopper of a tune then shifts focus from the blaring woodwind barrage to a more reserved sound, as the air fills with a haze of ominous musical effects. As the instrumental intervals become spaced out and slowed down, the music’s direction draws listeners to a state of anticipation before Keary and Henwood break out into a dense, clamorous sonic smog. The pair then revisit the hip-hop beat and steady sax melody, ending the piece at a more tranquil level. 

Standout track, ‘Green Shirt,’ kicks off with Keary’s propulsive drumming providing the foundation for Henwood’s hurried melody. As the track progresses into an eventual hellfire of bari sax and cymbal crashes, it comes full circle and concludes with a more toned back sound relative to the body of the piece. ‘Slap Juice‘ brings the album to a thrashy, menacing close, bursting open with a gritty saxophone and a bedrock of cymbal and snare. As it plays out, it toys with acceleration before unleashing an all-out frenzy.

When they’re at the forefront of a tune, the clear-cut melodies are unmistakably creative; yet, as the album becomes more experimental, they can get lost in a wall of sound. At times, less emphasis is put on Keary and Henwood’s organic musicianship, and the album instead meanders towards spotlighting sound effects, which can be a bit dense and disenchanting. However, those effects have the potential to amplify the listener’s experience and immerse them in an apocalyptic aural realm, as embodied in ‘Wheezy‘’s mechanical whirring and rattling, ‘Cosmo‘’s celestial and dreamlike atmosphere and ‘Whammy‘’s swelling and fading instrumentals. 

An unparalleled expressive force, O.’s first formal introduction to the world doesn’t lend itself to live continuously on repeat, but nonetheless reveals the duo’s unbridled artistry in an eclectic and genre-bending fashion. It showcases skill through honest, raw musicianship while, most importantly, demonstrating the potential to grow. ‘WeirdOs’ boasts its strengths in exploration and invention which makes for a promising debut album encapsulating its title.