ALBUM REVIEW: Violent Oblivion – Oakman
After the release of three hard-hitting EPs, French rock/indie trio OAKMAN are about to reveal their debut full-length album Violent Oblivion. Since their formation back in 2016, OAKMAN have worked their socks off to get to where they are, touring with the likes of ENTER SHIKARI, BASEMENT and BUKOWSKI, sharing a stage with ZZ TOP at Perouges Festival, and signing with Rude Records two years ago. Violent Oblivion shows how far they’ve come from their debut EP Waterscape in just eight short years, combining pop-rock melodies and raw emotional lyricism inspired by artists such as THE 1975 and CHVRCHES.
Opener I Am Floating… is a 52-second dream-inspired introduction, which genuinely makes you feel like you are being transported to another world and builds excitement for what’s to come. Ricochet is the first full track, starting off on the right foot with a THE 1975-influenced melody at the beginning. Whilst the production is cheery and great, the vocal delivery from frontwoman Marine Lanzillotta ultimately lacks depth. The lyricism within Spiral sounds as though it could be an old TAYLOR SWIFT release, almost sounding like an indie-fuelled The Story Of Us.
The intrigue is definitely high by the time we get to Proper Attitude, which, according to the band themselves, “describes the feeling of trying to maintain a proper attitude when everything’s going wrong.” Missed Connections follows in the same upbeat, positive trajectory with seemingly emotional and honest lyrics in tow. By the end of track, it becomes evident that this is the only thing carrying the song through. I Wish Myself To Be Happier is a lot better due to the infectious melody throughout – it is guaranteed to stick in your head for days to come. Next up is Curse, which is definitely one of the album’s hardest hitters. Lanzillotta adopts a vocal delivery which is much more captivating, keeping you engaged every step of the way.
Next track A Letter To Them is slower in nature, which is certainly not a bad thing. It really showcases Lanzillotta‘s vocals at their finest, proving that she has more of a range than initially anticipated. The title track and Air Hunger are next, and neither are all that special. Saying that, once again the production on both of these numbers is just impeccable and hard to ignore. It really is intriguing as to how a band with such emotive, dark lyricism resorts to a positive, upbeat production style.
Acte Manqué instantly sounds as though it would belong on PARAMORE‘s After Laughter with Lanzillotta‘s vocal style becoming reminiscent of Hayley Williams. It is easy to love the 80s feel to this track as it really adds some substance and is well worth a listen. Love Picture Soundtrack is a little dull, whereas the finale …Faraway In Space, Forever is perfectly dream-like. The instrumental has an AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR feel in terms of the production and provides a truly sensational end to this release.
It is a shame that the long-winded 13 track list isn’t just a little shorter to prevent the top contenders on Violent Oblivion from slipping through the cracks. Due to the length of the record, hard-hitters such as Acte Manqué, Curse and A Letter To Them almost get lost in the commotion, but ultimately Violent Oblivion is still most certainly worth a listen and OAKMAN are definitely a band worth keeping on your radar.
Rating: 7/10
Violent Oblivion is set for release on May 3rd via Rude Records.
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