Oh He Dead captured me quite suddenly. A music fan after just four bars – no band has managed that for a long time. The band from D.C. won me over with their groovy and rocking beats that combine soul and blues. The voice of frontwoman CJ Johnson stands out and makes Oh He Dead one of my personal recommendations for the beginning of the lift. With Ugly, they have now brought us their third album. You’ll love it too.
The band snuck into my playlist with the song Strange Love. I think it was this week when I was wandering through my 90s music memories and suddenly Weezer popped up in my timeline. Whilst still discussing album one and two with a friend, Oh He Dead snuck in between. I love them for that. Discussion over, ears open. The album, which was released a few days later, completely won me over. Good band, good groove, cool songs. I like it a lot.
Music to listen to
The plays are about love, relationships, birth and death. These are topics that accompany us every day and that everyone can take with them. I don’t find the choice of topics really exciting, but the way they are realised is. Caught between ‘too classic’ and ‘what the hell is that’, Oh He Dead manage to hold my attention time and time again. It’s worth listening carefully and not being dazzled by the beautiful melodies and rousing beats from time to time. My favourite is no ordinary love story. It is the love of a sex worker for her regular visitors. This gives the lines: ‘You can call me any time, You will always be my– My strange love,’ a whole new meaning.
The gentle Two Days is about a stalker. Too much closeness and desire to never want to let go of someone after getting to know them. ‘This one has stalkerish vibes,’ says the singer about the track. ‘My favourite artists are still Sade, Kings of Leon, and Stevie Nicks. Combined they have the rasp, the sexiness, and the storytelling. That is what I aim to be myself: a raspy, sexy, storyteller.’ She is a raspy and equally sexy storyteller, I can only agree with that.
I love the strength, the smoky, rough and occasionally furious quality of Ugly‘s songs. Plus the loud guitars, perfectly formed bass lines, guitar and a little bit of piano or almost organ, like in Moonshine. It sounds more like a club than a studio. An album where every band member has put a lot of love and energy into it. I also think you can hear that this is still a real band project. Not a band that has joined a musician, as is so often the case today. But a real band.
This also shows that you can only understand many songs when you get to know the band. That’s why I’m so happy that I got a direct reply to my email about the release. Not a matter of course these days. But the first look at the documents already showed that everything was there: Photos, detailed and short press release, quotes and even detailed credits. More than I had hoped for. The whole thing with a personal response that shows how much pleasure the enquiry from Germany gave me. Thanks to the manager and the agency. These people in the background are important movers and shakers in our digital music world.
The late presentation of this great work on my part is due to the busy festival season. I apologise. But good music doesn’t age and is always up to date. That’s why I’m particularly pleased to recommend the album to you now at the start of autumn. Personally, I’m really hoping for a concert in Germany very soon (preferably in Hamburg). Because if the intro says: ‘their shows are basically one big hug’, then you should experience it live. And before you ask yourselves, as I did, where this name comes from, there is also a story by the front woman describing the origins of the band:
When asked what happened to a cheating boy who was shot dead by his lover in one of her songs, CJ Johnson answered bluntly: ‘Oh, he’s dead.’ And so a legend is born. Ugly is the band’s third and probably darkest album. But it’s so powerful and hopeful at the same time that I’ve been listening to it again and again for four weeks. If it’s too dark for you, but you like the style, I recommend its predecessor Pretty. It comes to us wonderfully pink fluffy and poppy and is: ‘whatever you write in your journal at 4:00 a.m. Homemade, raw, acoustic, sexy and messy,’ says the band. I can also highly recommend it.
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Fotocredit by Oscar Merrida
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