To our minds at least, A.O. Gerber has been one of the break-out artists of 2020. The Los Angeles-based songwriter released her debut album, Another Place To Need, back in May on Hand In Hive, drawing acclaim from the likes of NPR, Gold Flake Paint and The Line Of Best Fit. The result of three years of recording, the album’s release should have brought with it a host of exciting tour dates, instead A.O. has found herself balancing a full-time job, while debating the importance of sharing music in a turbulent world. With that in mind, today marks the release of A.O’s new stripped back EP, Another Other Place, featuring three re-workings of tracks from her debut album, previewed earlier this week by the wonderful Bleeders (stripped).
While these recordings are new, the inspiration behind them actually dates back to when the tracks were first written, as A.O. explains, “there was a spooky quality to the original demo of “Strangers” that I loved and I almost released it that way initially“. Inspired by the sound of that demo, A.O. sought to capture the same quality in Bleeders, a track that, “came from very dark moments in my life“. While the album version of Bleeders stands out for it’s processed beat and wobbly synth bed, here A.O. seems to channel a different world. Her voice is raw and crackling, the only adornment coming from the reverberating piano, sounding like she’s alone in some cavernous hall, almost absent mindedly plucking out chords as her minds runs circles, trying to make sense of it all, “blue eyes tearing their way through my heart all your true lies I sentence myself, it’s the darkest part of your holy grip on me”. Peeling back the layers of the track seems to somehow get down it’s very core, the troubled tenderness, the quiet longing, the perfect escapism, it’s really rather magical.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBmTT8g6drc
Another Other Place is out today via Hand In Hive.
The Fat Angel Sings 