Soliti is delighted to present the debut EP from Ocelot

Mä voin ottaa sun ikävän pois from Ocelot has landed today (12th April).

Listen and download Mä voin ottaa sun ikävän pois  from the following selected outlets

Bandcamp
Soliti

Emilia Pennanen from Ocelot recounts the story of how the EP came together and the songwriting process.

I started to write these songs with piano and vocals around 2010-2011…. Ikävä was one of the first songs I wrote – I guess the song is about longing for something to happen while you are kind of stuck in the middle of depression, anxiety and frustration about the future before going to college. At the time I was in between studying photography and creative writing; more precisely – poetry, so I was in the mood for writing and experimenting with different ways to make music, sing and play piano.  Very raw, clangy, angsty and kinda irritatingly fun. Sonically I was interested in creating repetitive powerful piano chords and free flowing melodies with voice. This was the time when I also was about to move to the UK and later USA, which is why I started to write songs in Finnish – I wanted to write them just for myself, really.

Finally after forming the band with Johanna and Satu in 2016 the songs saw daylight. I had written the songs with a lot of space for other elements, so when we arranged the songs with bass and drums, that’s when the songs really came together, sounding full and complete. During these years I have been listening and thinking how the simplest elements give the strongest emotion when making music, texts or art. Such a cliché I know, however, sometimes it’s just like that.

Ocelot : Mä voin ottaa sun ikävän pois (Soliti 072)

1. Hämärä
2. Ikävä
3. Sä et saa mua
4. Sun oon

Lyrics by Emilia Pennanen
Written by Emilia Pennanen
Composed by Emilia Pennanen
Arranged by Emilia Pennanen, Satu Salminen, Johanna Järvinen

Piano and vocals: Emilia Pennanen
Drums and percussion: Satu Salminen
Bass: Johanna Järvinen

Mixing: Thomas Alatalo
Mastering Philip Granqvist
Recorded at Mankku 2018 by Nick Triani

Track by Track from Emilia

Hämärä: The song is a portrayal of the inevitability of something falling apart; the moment when everything crystallises. The burning light blinds the view until the light smoothes down and a fragmented picture appears before you. It is time to move along.

Ikävä: I really wanted the song to play with the idea of playful rhythms and melodies as the lyrics tell a linear story about anxiety and depression. The piano intertwines first with the bass and finally the drums join in, they are all flowing in and out while the vocals jump on the top.

Sä et saa mua: Musically the song is based on repetition, specifically focusing on chord variations, patterns and rhythmic composition. Thematically the song describes an irrational reality through emotions, lyrics echoing a conversation that could be seen in a dramatic play. Combined they create a state of uncertainty.

Sun oon: The song is a confession of love to a lover that kind of exists but really doesn’t. A contemporary love song with an emotionally unavailable person. It sounds as dramatic and tragic as the story goes… I was really into having space for the vocal and the most simplest piano line.

Advance word

SWIT: Super World Indie Tune Of The Day “We are delighted to premiere Ocelot’s new single “Hämärä”, a song about endings and beginnings. With a devilishly carefree piano motif, melancholy vocals and percussion that echoes the crashing of the waves as you part at Twilight, it’s a visceral and remarkable song”.

Päivän Biisit: “Hämärä saattaa olla syksyn 2018 ennakkoluulottomin, kaunein ja häiriintynein kotimainen pop-single. Siinä missä moni kotimainen vaihtoehtoartisti seilaa syvällä tuhnuisessa lofi-estetiikassa, tarjoilee helsinkiläinen Ocelot samanlaista ilmavaa tulkintaa kuin kovasti Päivän biiseissä hehkutettu Lac Belot. Siinä missä Lac Belot tarjoilee tummia sulosointuja, haastaa Ocelot kuuntelijaa enemmän, mutta onnistuu hienosti.”

Indie 30 “And as for Pennanen’s anomalous vocals? Those who cannot penetrate her quixotic tonalities will fail to uncover the boundless intuitive beauty on offer and miss out on making a lasting connection with both aural artistry and pop authencity.”

todaytonight1979  “It has a dream dream dream wave that I like a lot, the memories  come back from twenty years ago, to my room, in the middle of summer at 45ºC, when I fainted due to heat shock and mid-afternoon drowsiness, I listened to Spangle Maker by Cocteau Twins”.

Soundi “Merkillista pianopoppia”

Rumba “Ocelot kuulostaa erilaiselta – ja se on vain hyvä asia”.