Today we’re checking in with the genre-defying Nashville-based rock band, Oginalii. They recently signed to the Mexico City-based label Devil In The Woods, and have released two singles ahead of their upcoming Pendulum EP. We had a great chat with Emma, Emma, Simon, and Ryan, and they recorded an exclusive performance of three songs – two from their previous album and one of their new singles – for us in this episode of BTR Live Studio At Home.
Exciting news: Oginalii, whose name is the Cherokee word for “friend” and whose LP Cause & Affection is among the most intriguing rock albums released in Nashville last year, has new music on the way. The quartet is set to release an EP called Pendulum in October; like Cause & Affection, they recorded Pendulum with All Them Witches’ Ben McLeod. The interplay between bassist Emma Lambiase, drummer Simon Knudtson and guitarist Ryan Quarles makes the weight of heavy psych sound light and athletic, creating a kinetic environment for Emma Hoeflinger’s lithe voice and her insightful lyrics.
Nashville’s Oginalii recently announced the Oct 23rd release of “Pendulum” via Devil In The Woods. NPR Music calls the quartet’s music, “precise in its sludginess and exhilaratingly psychedelic in its channeling of socially pointed anger.”
The band recently released second single “Pillars,” with fuzzed-out riffs that immediately change gear to an exploration of space reminiscent of the sonic landscapes of Portishead.
Here’s a trad alt-rock band with a twist. Oginalii have many of the elements of 90s alt-rock that so many bands plunder. What is different though is the fact that they seem more interested in texture, and in the sound of their instruments under the filter of guitar pedals and production than they are about choruses.
Taking their name from the Cherokee word for “my friend,” and led by songwriter Emma Hoeflinger, Nashville’s Oginalii continue their steady progression as a band, and reveal new single and visual, Scapegoat, from the band’s forthcoming sophomore full length, Pendulum. The new album will be following last year’s promising, Cause & Affection.
