Owen K - O&K

Owen K

​O&K 
self-released; 2016

3.6 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

Owen Kelley has been writing music for student films for about two and a half years. He has scored over a dozen short films and also released eight songs entitled O&K (Demos). As the title says these are demos. I’d say pretty good sounding demos in regards to production.

The songs on this release are lush atmospheric and if you were to fit them into a genre you would label this shoegaze. His vocals are slightly above a whisper. It’s a hushed voice that could be compared to the vocals you may have heard from Mogwai, My Bloody Valentine and Auburn Lull.

He opens with “So Much” that has notes from an arpeggiated synth which run rampant across pads and his vocals. The juxtaposition between the pads and the movement of the synth work. The song gets intense as it progresses and gets into post-rock territory. With the additional distortion his vocals are barely audible. I would have liked to have heard a bit more space for his vocals but still enjoyed the merging of so many different sounds. 

Kelley continues with “Three” which reaches ethereal heights. There is a serene vibe to this song and it also happens to be quite catchy. “Mute” has a bit more of a groove then what came before. Was that a sax I heard? I’m not sure but really enjoyed the mixture of textures and tones I was hearing. 

“Gumshoe” initially has a distinct feel from the previous song. Mechanical clings and clacks merge with a fuzzy sine wave. The song slowly fades into atmosphere. This is a great track and certainly something I could see being used in a sci-fi space scene. 

The other song that stuck out to me was the closer “On The Wind.” This song has a fantastic L.A. noire type vibe. If anyone is making a detective flick that takes place in 2150 you will want to check out this song.

These are in fact demos for Kelley. The next step is obviously getting better production. Kelley certainly has some talent and I wouldn't be surprised to see his music featured in some bigger films down the road.

Tweet