The saxophone, as James Blake recently put it to Lil Yachty in their recent Complex interview, is the one instrument whose entire contributions he’d “delete” from musical history. His reasoning? “The saxophone is like the guy at the party who’s done too much coke, and he’s telling you about his new business idea.”
Consider south London duo O.’s debut album ‘WeirdOs’. Joe Henwood’s saxophone, put through all sorts of effect pedals, sounds like the guy who’s done too much of all the drugs. If anything, Henwood and Tash Keary (drums) might have accelerated the demise of the saxophone if Blake had it his way – but oh, how thrilling they’ve made it sound.
What makes O.’s saxophone so captivating is their use of saxophonics, which augments the instrument’s sound with numerous effects pedals. Pioneered by jazz musicians Eddie Harris and Sonny Stitt in the 1960s, O. layer pedal after pedal until the saxophone morphs into a hulking, growling beast, like a crunching guitar on steroids.
But none of O.’s predecessors come close to the guttural, visceral sounds uttered by the NME 100 alumni. There’s ‘Cosmo’ and its foreboding bass that wobbles and flutters menacingly, whilst the dubby wails that echo in ‘Whammy’ sounds like the saxophone like you’ve never heard it before. But O. also communicate a surprising playfulness with its funk-rock inspired rhythms; the indisputable groove of ‘Wheezy’ smacks of legends like Rage Against The Machine.
This album would also be nothing without the spectacular drumming of Keary, who wrangles the mighty hydra that is Henwood’s saxophone and punctuates it with sharp, snappy beats. ‘176’ switches between an intensely swung rhythm, melting into a looser, more organic midsection, whilst ‘Mirco’ sees Keary smoothly transition into a typical drum and bass breakbeat.
It’s all, admittedly, incredibly confronting. There is little room to breathe and you will practically be beaten into submission by Keary’s snare by the time you reach closer ‘Slap Juice’. But this is a confident, assured debut from O., two instrumentalists at the height of their craft – with a real sense of humour to boot.
Details
Recommended
- Release date: June 21
- Record label: Speedy Wunderground