Look, I know I’m way too late in reviewing the latest double single from Ómoia but having listened to it I just knew that I couldn’t not review it because it’s so bloody good musically, and lyrically. Let’s get straight to the music.
‘Habits’ ‘is a confession of shedding a past self that no longer serves you, and refusing to be confined by anyone else’s image of who you should be. A story of internal conflict and projected expectations’. It sounds like heavy, and I mean very heavy, emo. It’s full of raging guitars set against a rushing strident beat. It is a almost too much to bear because there’s this sense of overwhelming claustrophobia. The vocal seems to be striving to breakout. And boy is this is a fantastic vocal performance. It left me both sad and exhilarated, and then confused as to why; but I just decided to embrace that feeling because I frankly adore music that provokes strong emotions whatever they may be. By the way this track sounds better the louder you crank it, just a listening tip there.
And now to ‘People Like Us’. The song ‘confronts the horrors of conversion therapy and its devastating effects on the LGBTQIA+ community. It’s a call for acknowledgment, compassion, and justice, underscoring the pain of being labeled “unworthy” and the need for societal change’.
Knowing what the song was about prepared me for something that was going to hit me emotionally hard but I wasn’t prepared for what it did to me. This is an epic track that piles on the emotion almost second by second. From the opening strummed guitar to the first swell of dense sound to the first melodic section to the ;raio vocals’ it builds into a climax of dense guitar that, if your sound system is set to stun, risks knocking you over physically. I described it as an epic and I meant that; it’s compelling. complex and totally addictive. Combine this with the subject of the song and the frankly wonderful raw words. means this song is guaranteed to stay with you forever.
My friends, if you haven’t been hearing Ómoia’s previous releases then before listening to this listen to them because this release is the final part of a build to an explosive, emotionally raw set of songs. Ómoia’s music is so raw and honest both musically and lyrically that it leaves you reeling.
‘Fallen Number’ is, and forgive my language, a fucking masterpiece; there’s just no other way of describing it.