OKLAHOMA CITY – There’s been a lot of talk in recent years about whether or not Oklahoma City has a definable or singular sound that can be pointed to as the city’s trademark or musical identity.
But for my money, one of the best things about this scene is its almost stubborn refusal to become easily boxed into a single sound or identity, producing instead a consistent roster of genre-mashing, style-crossing creatives that embrace this city’s open-ended character and craft releases that openly shirk simple categories.
In fact, three of the most interesting and intricately produced style-mixers in the scene are all dropping genre-defying new releases, with long-anticipated new offerings from lush, art-pop songsmith Brandon Birdwell, alt-folk jammers Compost Adjacent, and multicultural, multi-sonic musical mastermind Sun Deep.
Brandon Birdwell – ‘Songs That a Ghost Might Like’
The first extended follow-up to last year’s emotionally revelatory “How Have I Let You Down?,” the brand new “Songs That a Ghost Might Like” EP sees Birdwell on the other side of all those hard questions and raw realizations.
This time around, he’s focused less on re-litigating his past and more on reconsidering his future, specifically how his music, his art, and his pursuits of happiness all fit into his coming years.
When he sings “I write songs that a ghost might like,” he’s not just talking about the airy tack piano melodies or the wispy, wintery production swirling around his voice. He’s confronting the fleeting and finicky realities of success and the possibility that he’ll never find the kind of recognition or admiration that everyone is so busy chasing.
As his voice and its accompaniment reach and swell, he offers “give up my ghost,” an attempt to lay down that burden of chasing recognition and to make peace with making his music just for himself and whatever ghosts happen to find it down the years.
The whole record is full of similar unburdenings, with Birdwell aimed at shrinking his world and narrowing his focus to his own life, loves, and crafts, rather than getting swept up in the currents that led to the last album’s reflections of guilt.
This time, it’s all positive steps, from the washing away of troubles on “It’s Colder Outside than I’d Like” to the embrace of ephemeral emotion and transient time on lead single “High Low,” sounding even more joyous here as a centerpiece among the more subdued and atmospheric tracks.
Throughout, the lush orchestrations and inspired production of Birdwell and frequent collaborator Michael Trepangier weave and wind like the ghosts of the title, building each track into a textural experiment of guitars, synths, pianos, and layered vocals, but never ignoring Birdwell’s knack for effective pop songwriting.
It’s a powerful collection of tracks already, but it feels appropriately tailored to rediscovering and revisiting again and again over time.
“Songs That a Ghost Might Like EP” by Brandon Birdwell is available on streaming services now.
For more, follow @brandonbirdwell on Instagram.
Compost Adjacent – ‘Junebug’
With a quick, clicking count off and a big-chord fanfare, art-folk alt-jammers Compost Adjacent kick in the doors on their long-awaited debut EP, announcing themselves properly to a city that’s already seen sporadic singles and lauded gigs from the group over the past couple years.
On “Junebug,” – dropping Friday, August 15th – they’re finally fully formed, running with the EP’s longer, larger canvas and pulling out all the folky stops, from guitar-battering acoustic strums and gang vocal harmonies to moments of ethereal calmness and spoken-word poetry.
Compost Adjacent wield all the tools and instrumentation of Appalachian alt-folk, but with the energy and approach of an experimental jam band. There are touches of high-wire prog-rock and a well-tuned messiness that casts off any comparisons to the clean, suspendered, “hey ho”-ing folk revivalists in favor of bare feet and dirty overalls.
Singer/guitarist Ryan Smith, in a press statement alongside the release, said that the band sequenced “Junebug” like a weekend. Gatecrasher “No. 7” rides in on a wave of fun and Friday night wildness and then slowly gives way to the psych-rock contemplations and cinematically bowed basslines of “Dropping Gypsum” and closer “Addict,” like Sunday morning coming down.
Lead single and centerpiece “Silly Boy Prance,” then, is the perfect, propulsive Saturday, a driving folk-rock bop with summery guitar leads that might just be covering up something darker and seedier underneath.
They’ve already been a band to watch for awhile now, but this EP puts Compost Adjacent firmly on the map for OKC.
“Junebug EP” by Compost Adjacent drops on streaming services Friday, August 15th.
Bookish will host the band for a full release show on Saturday, August 16th.
For more, follow @compostadjacent on Instagram.
Sun Deep – ‘Ghar’
After years of waiting, teasing, and occasionally dropping a single here and a video there, we’re finally getting the new full-length album from Sun Deep, maybe Oklahoma’s most singular and surprising songwriter.
Known for rapping in Hindi and for co-creating the multilingual, spiritual hip-hop outfit Finite Galaxy, Sun Deep has been continuously building a body of work all his own over the past few years, and “Ghar” – hitting streamers Friday, August 15th – feels like a culmination.
Like a curtain rising, “Ulfat” opens things up with a bold, dramatic piano before picking up the pace into an unfolding lo-fi soul jam.
From there, all bets are pretty much off, as you never know if each next track will feature the deep synths and shimmering leads of “Ghayal,” the disco-funk of “Chehra,” or even the early Bon Iver-style acoustic strumming of the title track.
Standout “Halka Halka” sees its playfully muted guitars and worldbeat percussion explode into a cracking backbeat that sends it into a dancey, body-moving stratosphere.
Sun Deep’s own vocals shift and morph between rapping and hushed singing throughout, all held together and made deeply, palpably personal by his Hindi language.
Though many of these tracks have appeared as singles in the past couple years (with “First Light” even scoring awards and high-level placements with its fantastic Qazi Islam-directed video,) everything works even better in the context of “Ghar” as a full piece.
Sun Deep’s energy pops more fully than ever when presented across ten tracks, showcasing his full scope of stylistic synergy and sonic playfulness, covering practically all the ground there is to cover.
“Ghar” is an immediate highlight of the year for OKC music.
“Ghar” by Sun Deep hits streaming services on Friday, August 15th, but is available in full right now on Bandcamp.
The Soundbar on Automobile Alley will host a full listening party and release event for the album on Saturday, August 16th.
For more, follow @sundeep_music on Instagram.
You can find out about local music and performance happenings in the OKC metro weekly in this music column by Brett Fieldcamp. | Brought to you by True Sky Credit Union.
Brett Fieldcamp is our Arts and Entertainment Editor. He has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for 15+ years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
