Project Description
“AMNPLIFY ALBUM PREMIERE”
OLIVER DOWNES
‘The Wheel’
+ Oliver’s track by track review
+ TOUR DATES
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“An impressive and eccentric work of baroque pop, [‘Ultraviolet’] packs soaring melodies and sharp wit in equal measure, underpinned by intricate and eclectic chamber instrumentation.” – Tone Deaf
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Melbourne based Alternative Pop artist Oliver Downes has just released his new album ‘The Wheel’.
The multi-talented song-weaver will embark on a run of tour dates on April 5th to celebrate his album release.
‘The Wheel’ was written during a creative residency at the Banff Centre for Creativity and the Arts.
Oliver Downes effortlessly blends percussive piano with infectious melodies and thoughtprovoking lyrics. His songs explore territory gestured at by artists such as Nick Cave, Kate Bush, Nils Frahm and Rufus Wainwright.
Oliver released his debut album ‘Ultraviolet’ in 2016 to a warm reception. The album received praising reviews from the likes of Tone Deaf and Happy, whilst securing a solid amount of airplay across Australian radio.
Oliver Downes recently released single and video ‘Look To Windward’. The single was the first offering from ‘The Wheel’.
‘The Wheel’ is available for download on all major online stores.
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Exclusive track by track write up (written by Oliver Downes):
The Wheel
This song is about a particularly ugly breakup I went through a few years ago. Of course, none of the pain that it would lead to was obvious when our relationship began – I wanted to see what it would sound like if a song ‘mapped’ that relationship, beginning with beautiful hope and ending with an inevitable collapse. Also, the album as a whole is about cycles, in this case cycles of dysfunction, so it seemed like a good one to put first.
Borderline
I wrote this song in Canada in late 2017. Australia’s treatment of refugees was on my mind and while I was there I was struck by the similarities in treatment of central American migrants in the US and Canada. By chance, I happened to be reading ‘Borderline’ a novel about ‘illegal’ immigration by Australian writer Janette Turner Hospital about an encounter between strangers, one of them illegal, at the US/Canada border and the song grew obliquely around that narrative.
Golden Hours
This song is a celebration and interrogation of suburban life. I live in the northern suburbs of Melbourne and love the bushy bike paths, the sunsets, the peace, the simple pleasures to be found in quiet safety. And I hate the complacency, the sense of ‘settling’ that is everywhere in such suburban bubbles.
Tomorrow
Like most millennials, I’m terrified about the future, at the unfolding ecological tragedy that is gripping the planet and the runaway consumption that is driving it. This song grapples with that.
Cellophane
I undertook a ten day silent meditation retreat a few years ago, which was one of the most psychedelic experiences I’ve ever had. Musically this was an immensely fun song to produce and succeeds in no small part thanks to the contribution of Canadian saxophonist Chelsea McBride, who I met while in Canada – if you like modern big band music a la Snarky Puppy et al, check her out!
Look to Windward
I finished this song while on the way back from Canada. It was written originally to comfort a friend who was going through a breakup – by that time I’d learned to see my own as being one of the best things to ever happen to me and wanted to share that having come out the other side.
A Minor Place
This song celebrates the waterholes and other quiet places that dot the otherwise dry and baking Australian landscape. Much of this album was written about my own search for peace, for recognising that things come and go while seeking points of stillness and clarity, so it’s also about that.
Scraps and Rainbows
This is an existential crisis about the end of the world in song form. Musically, it also messes around with the style of film music that is everywhere nowadays, especially in Marvel flicks. Ultimately, I feel like the world probably is ending in many ways, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t still have to get on with living.
Lilies of the Field
I wrote this song for a few different friends who work as doctors, nurses or paramedics. At some point each of them have had to deal with being the person in the room during a completely unpreventable death, something each has struggled with in different ways.
The Dust of Long Forgotten Stars
Before moving to Melbourne, I lived in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney. The sandstone plateau that forms the mountains was laid down over 50 million years ago at a time when there were still dinosaurs and the world was several degrees hotter than it now is (even with a changing climate). And ultimately, I think that is a comforting thought, that on the grand cosmic scale, the whole human drama is pretty insignificant.
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OLIVER DOWNES
TOUR DATES
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“AMNPLIFY ALBUM PREMIERE”
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