Conceptually, The Unclouding of Otilla Vanilla is proof that music can move with the times and yet doesn’t have to suddenly lurch forward or feel as if it is trying to make a complete break with the past. (Let’s face it, for all of punk’s revolutionary talk of year zero, all it eventually offered was sped-up rock and roll music.)
This debut album from HeyBobby! feels nothing other than bang-up-to-date and of-the-moment music, but it gets to this cutting edge without abandoning any beloved musical tradition. With a blend of theatrical prowess and art-rock impact, underground moves and alternative grooves, they deliver an album (a concept album, no less) that bridges the cultish and commercial worlds, the ferociously fresh and fondly familiar.
Following the rise and unraveling of the title character, the album traces a young singer’s search for meaning, connection, and identity in an industry built on dreams. We move from the soul-searching of the dark and sultry opener “Anyone Else But Me” to the funky bass lines and buzzsaw guitars of “Function of Friction.”
“Broken” is built on big cinematic lines, a song of cinematic heights from which to begin Otilla Vanilla’s fall from grace, “Soft Time of Night” has the warm essence of a piece of sixties chamber pop, and “So In Your Corner” is big and brash and boisterous and bombastic and…well, brilliant.
It’s an album whose dynamic shape rises and falls with the storyline, ebbing and flowing between drama and contemplation, the highs, the lows, but of course, the big question is what is she prepared to sacrifice to realise her dreams. Well, you will have to listen through to the end of the album to find out.
