Following on from the song Better Place, featured on BlackPlastic.co.uk last year, Martin Oh is back with a full EP release, which shares its title with the previous track.
You can stream the full EP below, which expands the European-Mediterranean vibes of the song Better Place with four additional songs. All take the Martin Oh sound, developed in partnership with producer SOHN, in different directions. I particularly enjoyed the earnest sense of being emotionally overwhelmed that is What Am I Doing, a track that joyfully plays with the experience of feeling hooked on someone, and unable to move past them. The song builds these beautiful quiet moments, where Martin sings, “It’s you, it’s you, it’s you, it’s all wrapped up in you”, before the song moves to a chunky riff as he declares, “…And I just can’t seem to get you off my mind”.
Elsewhere, Same Song builds against a stripped back groove, up to the point where the song is enveloped in swirling melodies in its chorus. The contrast between the song’s quiet moments and the chorus creates a wonderful tension, the moments where the song lets go, in that chorus, feels like a moment of pure escapism.
The release ends with the new track Neverland, which acts as the culmination of both the EP, and Martin Oh’s catalogue to date. Inspired by the feeling of “being trapped in a life that doesn’t feel like your own, searching for an escape but never finding it”, Neverland is a deliberate reminder of possibility, as the artist describes:
“(Neverland is) a vibrant electro-pop track that reminds you the horizon is within reach. Heart-pounding bass, a sun-soaked melody rising like a wave… This song is a call to let go, to run toward the unknown, to dance until the weight of regrets disappears.”
As a song, Neverland pulses with energy and optimism, sunny melodies that play at the intersection of nostalgia and hope. The synths, guitars, and vocals all combine to create something warm and exciting, the emotional equivalent of blowing out the cobwebs and making a fresh start. Having started with an initial melodic idea, Martin Oh looked to layer more and more synths to give the song the energy it ends up creating in the listener. It’s a perfect close to the EP, and an exciting tease for what might come next.
Check out Better Place EP below, or on your favourite streaming service.