Today, O. – the London-based duo of baritone saxophonist Joe Henwood and drummer Tash Keary – have shared a muscular new single titled “176”. The track is taken from their highly anticipated debut album WeirdOs, which was announced earlier this year and is due out June 21 via Speedy Wunderground.
Honing their fearless sound through a residency at Brixton’s iconic venue The Windmill, as well as on support slots across the UK and Europe with fellow heavyweights black midi and Gilla Band, O. have now distilled their unique live energy into their debut album, “WeirdOs”.
Coming hot on the heels of last November’s debut EP “SLICE” – which won enthusiastic support from DIY, Dork, NME, Louder, and Rough Trade – and once again featuring production from Dan Carey, “WeirdOs” is Tash and Joe at their most raucous and free.
Across 10 tracks of high-octane instrumentals recorded live to tape, the duo encompasses everything from cathartic dancefloor drops, to junglist breakbeats, intricate jazz lines, and sludgy, menacing doom metal.
Following on the heels of their lead single “Green Shirt”, which was given its first play on Mary Anne Hobbs’ BBC Radio 6 Music show, the new single “176” sees the duo combining their heavier sensibilities with their more groove inflected hip-hop influences to create something both colossal and danceable.
Speaking on the single, the band say it was written “in tribute to the 176 night bus and the unpredictable journeys on board. Always a banger live, we feel like we’ve captured that heavy energy on record with some help from Dan Carey’s distortion machines.
Stream “176” via all platforms HERE
Going on to speak about the album, the band says, “WeirdOs is a dark, heavy album based around our love of riffy basslines, blast beats, dub, noise, and all the weird sounds in between. It was recorded live across 2 weeks in the studio with Dan Carey and aims to replicate the feeling of being at one of our gigs.”