Posts Tagged ‘Pepita Emmerichs’

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The sophomore release from the Australian folk-pop duo Oh Pep! is irresistable pop bolstered by the pair’s talented musicianship. Olivia Hally, who plays guitar and sings, and Pepita Emmerichs, who masters both fiddle and mandolin, met while attending a performing arts high school in Melbourne nearly a decade ago, and they could easily have had careers as studio musicians. But, instead, they write pop songs , some of the year’s best at that. On ” I Wasn’t Only Thinking About You…”, Oh Pep! seem to take cues from both Taylor Swift’s 1989 and First Aid Kit’s The Lion’s Roar, the latter an obvious comparison considering both FAK and Oh Pep! are female folk duos. But Oh Pep! exist in a sphere all their own: Songs like “Your Nail And Your Hammer” recall Swift’s sparkling pop production while also playing up First Aid Kit-worthy bluegrass sounds and lyrical metaphors. “Cold little heart breaks apart with your nail and your hammer,” Hally sings.

From their ode to rock bottom on “Hurt Nobody,” to their tremendously fun tribute to girl-gabbing on “What’s The Deal With David?,” Oh Pep! cover a scope of emotion on I Wasn’t Only Thinking About You…, that’s part breakup album and part coming-of-age opus.

New Oh Pep! album ‘I Wasn’t Only Thinking About You’ out now!

Oh Pep

Olivia Hally and Pepita Emmerichs are the “Oh” and the “Pep!” in this Melbourne band. They write mostly upbeat music filled with questions about desire and life’s priorities and considerations. Their pop sensibilities offer more twists and turns than the usual “verse/chorus” formula, but there are still big, catchy hooks. It’s just that those hooks seem to happen after you’ve taken a journey through a story, so the hook sinks much deeper and offers a kind of emotional relief.

Hally and Emmerichs have been making music since secondary school; they’re now both 24. The band’s use of fiddle, mandolin and harmonies are refreshingly original.

Stadium Cake is Oh Pep!’s debut album, recorded in Nova Scotia. Each of the duo’s previous three EPs is a progression into ever more complex songwriting and intricate playing. They’re funny at times, and they can be thoughtful and thought-provoking, sometimes in the same song. Stadium Cake expands on Hally and Emmerichs‘ talents, to the point where it surprised me how detailed and intricate they are as both players and listeners. I’ve come to find new favorites, though “Doctor Doctor” and “The Race” were the standouts. Put this on repeat, and by the time you stop, phrases like, “I know what I want and it’s not what I need” may be part of your own personal soundtrack.

Crazy Feels is taken from Oh Pep!’s debut album “Stadium Cake”