vote
8.0
- Bands:
OU - Duration: 00:42:58
- Available from: 04/26/2024
- Label:
-
Inside Out
Streaming not yet available
We discovered Ou in 2022, at the time of their debut album, and their proposal, although still immature, had impressed us a lot. Ou, in fact, are a band from Beijing that appeared on the scene with a convoluted and ultra-technical progressive metal, over which hovered the exotic and ghostly voice of Lynn Wu, a simply amazing singer, who made the band’s proposal unique.
In our review of “One”, while highlighting the multiple strengths of Ou’s proposal, it clearly emerged that the band had opted for arrangements that were far too dense, which failed to give the right breath to the music, risking confusing the ‘listener. We hoped that Anthony Vanacore (drummer and founder of the band) would opt for slightly less convoluted arrangements, giving a more refined and less abstruse edge to the music, so as to blend even more effectively with Lynn Wu’s voice.
With great pleasure, therefore, we were able to see how their new album “蘇醒 II: Frailty” represents a decisive step in the direction we had hoped for. Devin Townsend, who we had already mentioned among the sources of inspiration for the debut, appears on this second album as guest and co-producer. The result of this collaboration is a work that always remains unique and eclectic, but which finally shows excellent stylistic coherence and even more mature songwriting, which finds a hypothetical meeting point between Devin, Polyphia, a graceful and exotic voice and a very clever use of electronics.
In addition to the first two extracts, “蘇醒 Frailty” and “淨化 Purge”, which represent Ou’s sound very well, we are also happy to mention the excellent “海 Ocean”, in which Lynn Wu’s voice almost seems to bounce in space, like a perfect sphere which, attracted by unknown forces, bounces in a labyrinth of angles and bizarre geometries. The more calm and delicate moments are also excellent, such as “血液 Redemption”, in which the band finds itself inhabiting territories close to ambient, or “輪迴 Reborn”, a poetic and elegant composition, which starts with the pure voice of the Chinese singer , on which a delicate arrangement of piano and synthesizers then rests. Completely different, however, is the instrumental “歪歪地愛 yyds”, which takes us back to the virtuosic evolutions of the debut, but this time the sound research is not lost, but emerges in an excellent way thanks to the better balance of the album.
It’s clear that a work like this is not designed for a wide audience and even in a context like ours it won’t be one of those universally appreciated records. “蘇醒II: Frailty” is like a splendid artificial garden, a place of beauty and poetry, in which however every element is the result of a perfect, clean, aseptic design study. An oriental sanctuary designed by Jonathan Ive.
We often complain about how it is increasingly difficult to truly find something innovative in music and sometimes we are satisfied with sounds we have already heard, as long as they are well made. Ou, on the other hand, tried to create something different in a courageous way, also taking calculated risks. If their trajectory continues in this direction, we can’t wait to see what they can do on their next album.
