Hello Readers,
Welcome back to SWT. How are you today?
Yesterday we were thrilled to share Timothy Den’s amazing story with you. And today we’re going to look more into the first new album in over 10 years from Ohvaur. The trio of talented musicians of the Chicago-based include Den, Daniel Escauriza, and Mike Horick. The members of the band underwent a series of life experiences, growth, and evolutions as one can expect to encounter in a roughly 10-year span before they came back together to create their first new album since 2013’s A Memories Chase.
Within the press release for Intertwined, Timothy Den was able to summarize years of feelings and explain the concept, stating “We’d like to think that the album ultimately is a celebration of life before each of these ‘endings.'” Reader, keep that in mind as you read further and listen to the album on your own.
The album’s press release delved into the titular song with a descriptive quote from famed producer Matt Wallace (Faith No More, The Replacements, and Maroon 5). Of the song Wallace said that it has, “defined, confident energy, cinematic melodies, and deep soul… forward thinking, dark, but also stealthily pop, and has the right balance of brutal beauty. It’s unique, deeply resonant, compelling music.” Ohvaur shared their thoughts on the song as well, offering some musical reference points, stating that the song has, “traditional pop song structures played with muscle… like Tears For Fears backed by Faith No More, or an angry Peter Gabriel.”
A little more about this album; Intertwined album credits:
- Music by Ohvaur (Timothy Den, Daniel Escauriza, and Mike Horick) and lyrics by Tim, except:
song 3 music by Ohvaur and Evan Rifas, lyrics by Tim and Evan
song 5 music by Evan and Ohvaur, lyrics by Evan
song 10 music and lyrics by Tim - Piano on songs 5 & 10 by Steve Schuster
- Violin by Sarah Plum
- Viola by Michael Hall
- Cello by Alexa Muhly
- French horn by Dan O’Connell
- Verse and chorus back-up vocals on song 3 by Evan
- Talia Houminer sings back-up vocals on songs 1 & 8
- Evan, Talia, and Peter Holden help sing “choir vocals” on song 2
- Produced by Ohvaur, except song 3 produced by and songs 1 & 8 co-produced by Matt Wallace
- Mixed by Matt Wallace, except songs 4, 5, 9, and 10 that were mixed by Dan
- Mastered by Dave Collins
- Drum recordings by Mike, except 2 by Dan at Soundjitsu
- Evan’s vocals recorded by himself; Pete’s vocals recorded by Wade Strange at Seethru Sound
- Everything else recorded by Dan at Soundjitsu
- Artwork by Brian Moore
- Band photos by Boaz Walker
Intertwined tracklist:
- Intertwined (4:32)
- The Best Part of My Years (4:46)
- Altered Endings (5:07)
- I Won’t Know How to Leave You When You’re Gone (4:17)
- Long Distance Call (4:37)
- Every Minute Here (3:57)
- Blood in the Smoke (3:42)
- Time Will Not Remember Us (5:09)
- Lie in It (3:54)
- Europe By Way of Slumber (2:03)
The lyric video for the titular song, “Intertwined”:
(All credits and rights to Ohvaur)
Using black and white film and color to create at times opposing perspectives in the video for the song, “Altered Endings”:
(All credits and rights to Ohvaur)
I consider Intertwined to be a good listening experience. It is a good album both creatively and sonically. Within the album’s fantastic individual compositions, there is a great playing of strings, brass and other instrumentation. In addition, there are memorable vocals throughout both with lead and more choral harmonies. All that being said, this is an album that I’d recommend that you listen to in its entirety. Don’t settle for those two songs above! Be sure to check the band’s Linkree for more music and socials.
How do you listen to more? Here’s a link with all the available streaming and listening services including their Bandcamp page.
Happy listening!
Scummy Water Tower Productions co-founder, reviewer, business manager, and editor. Thank you for visiting this site: scummywatertower.com, and YouTube for Water Tower Sessions!
Contact me: alex@scummywatertower.com
