Since my third round of COVID last summer, I’ve struggled with brain fog, a near-constant sensation that a veil has been draped over my own memories. Some thoughts merely feel hazy at the edges, small details escaping me or taking days to appear. Others seem to be completely obscured. The feeling is unsettling, especially as it lingers a year after infection. But however my brain chemistry has been altered, one silver lining has emerged: a new appreciation for the reverb-heavy beats at the center of trip-hop, barber beats, and other electronic experiments.
With Orsak:Oslo, it appears that I’m hardly alone in gravitating towards moody melodies in the face of inner uncertainty. The psychedelic post-metal band’s new album, Silt and Static, is a swirling exploration of identity and self, particularly the pieces just outside of view. Out September 5th via Vinter Records, the record was recorded live without a full roadmap or plan, just a desire to explore and reflect. In that sense, Silt and Static feels like life itself: delicate, mostly improvised, and unfolding through tiny chapters as each note and beat emerges. Verses stretch into songs, hours stretch into days. Eventually, an album and a life emerge with beautiful, grimy imperfection.
With “085 Days Adrift,” Orsak:Oslo reveal their most melancholy single yet. While previous singles vibrate with grungy tension, “085” is an echoing meditation that summons faded days lingering at the edges of memory. It’s achingly ephemeral and almost droning, a hypnotic meditation that bristles with the gentle urgency of a restless mind. It feels like midnight alone in the dark. Breaking the post-metal script, Orsak:Oslo find themselves drifting towards trip-hop influences that lend a murmuring, fragile atmosphere. Like memory, “085 Days Adrift” appears to be unraveling at the seams.
Whether it’s a sign of regret, or the unrelenting current of a life fully lived, is up to you.
Listen to “085 Days Adrift” below and find more from Orsak:Oslo on Bandcamp. Silt and Static will be released on September 5th.