It’s going to cater to the body, Olga Bell‘s new album. Its name is “TEMPO” and if you have paid attention, you should know already it’s impossible not to move along its first single “Randomness“. Now it’s time to leave the dance floor for the moody afterparty of the second cut “ATA”.
There is something strange about “ATA”. It is not the kind of alienating strangeness one finds in things hard to get. It’s a feeling more akin to slight disorientation following a surprise. A pulsating synth bass slithers on the semi-empty floor of the track, which is full of space and scattered with blips and clicks, and opens up into a soft harpsichord-like lead when it reaches the middle. This sonic narrative is not accidental. The song is a sort of electronic rendition of Frank O’Hara’s poem “A True Account of Talking to the Sun at Fire Island“, in which the sun itself comforts the poet about the value of his art while death and powerlessness keep echoing in the background, and as the sun starts talking, everything turns brighter. Another influence was Art of Noise’s “Moments in Love“, one of those classics nobody knows the title of. But there is none of that slow-mo sweetness here. “ATA” is brooding, meditative and self-aware, an artist facing her own condition. As cerebral as its premise and lyrics are, it is with the body that it wants you to listen. So play it below and feel it in your stomach. Headphones highly recommended.
“TEMPO” is out May 27th. Pre-order it here.
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