A few short months ago, I had the pleasure of introducing the Earmilk world to the sounds of Oliver Tank via his track "Last Night I Heard Everything In Slow Motion". It was one of those tracks you hear in the background of a YouTube clip and think, "Whoa. Who is this? This is beautiful." Yep. It was one of those for me. The track is infused with emotion and provides the listener with the opportunity to do some introspection. The track is instrumental, with hauntingly beautiful vocals throughout. The most impactful portion of the track (in my opinion) is at the end when the string instruments come into play. It truly is chill-inducing music.
For those folk who did not have the opportunity to read my first article on the Sydney-based artist, a recap for you: In his six-track EP Dreams, Tank found a way to organize a multitude of different sounds and combine them into an auditory story. Telling a story is one of the most important aspects of music nowadays. It is in my opinion that too many artists and songs stray too far from the narrative-path (or they tell the story with words to an overwhelming extent). The most powerful music is the music with little to no vocals that provide the listener the opportunity to create the story in their own minds. These are the types of tracks I find myself getting lost in.
One of the aforementioned tracks off of his EP, "Last Night I Heard Everything in Slow Motion", is a great way to introduce the world to his music. I had an immediate, crazy, inspiring, stomach-turning, and heart-wrenching connection with this song. The two genres of electronic and instrumental music dance slowly among one another throughout the duration of the track building up to an emotional finale of sidechained strings. I was pleasantly surprised to find that several Australian artists took the time to remix tracks from Tank's EP. Each track provides a different tone, and I think each one speaks beautifully for itself. After giving each track a listen, I deemed each one worth sharing with the Earmilk world. Enjoy & be sure to join Oliver Tank on his musical journey.