A songbook is typically something of consistency and carefully planned-out arrangement – a meticulous process full of well-worn songs. otta’s take, thankfully, is worlds away. From bedroom pop to trap beats, and jazz-piano to R&B, it’s become an amalgamation of whatever she pleases.
Being a self-proclaimed bedroom musician with her “cupboard under the stairs-meets-shed” home studio, the last few months have been business as usual for the half-Finnish, half-British artist. Following the release of her debut single ‘small hours’ late last year, she’s been working away with producer kwes (Solange, Kano, Loyle Carner) on her second EP ‘songbook’.
She exudes confidence with opener ‘never see’ – a timely shaking of the shoulders to remind you to believe in yourselves. The tender reminder that “there’s somebody out there who will take the extra time to decide what to wear when they take you out” is a much-needed revelation, but the ongoing onslaught between these appeasing pick-me-ups and the relentless, robotic cries of the two-worded chorus can’t help but bed in.
This clash of serenity and unpredictability is the only constant. The incomprehensible vocal breakdown in ‘three of us’ fights off its initial dawdle, while the computerised ‘no more tears’ mixes Jorja Smith’s soulful hooks and an underlying sense of dejection. The delicate but playful nature of otta’s voice, similar to that of dance-cellist Arthur Russell and singer-songwriter Nilüfer Yanya, blends effortlessly into her R&B-indie meets trap beats.
If that wasn’t enough to mess with you, interlude ‘suihku’ turns things up a notch. Meaning ‘shower’ in Finnish, the 90-second flood of pounding throbs could be taken straight from ‘Geidi Primes’-era Grimes The concluding outburst of sampled alarms, however triggering, are a literal wake-up call for the following ode to feeling ‘sick inside’ when working within the male-dominated music industry. The track with its placid guitar strums, the only to feature such, screams exasperation with the reverberating questions of “who am I” and “when did I get so tired”, matched with the confession “I don’t know myself anymore”.
With so many ideas competing in each track, there’s always the opportunity for something to go awry – her scattergun approach, however, has paid off. otta says sees songbooks as “quite clean” with a “nostalgic feel”, and despite feeling as if she’s made the opposite. Each track is sharp and genre-transcending, yet all make sense when put together.
