Oh Mercy have released four studio albums since their 2009 debut. In that time, their music has received critical acclaim, copious Triple J airplay and several ARIA Award nominations.
Earlier this month, Oh Mercy released their fifth album 'Café Oblivion'. “I've tried to call all of my albums since 2008 'Café Oblivion',” Oh Mercy's frontman Alex Gow says, “but I hadn’t managed to write the type of music that suited it.
“I thought the type of music that suited it would be absurdist and romantic and a bit funny, and it just took me about ten years to write that particular album.
“The title has this lovely, pretentious ring about it, like this Henry Miller book that he never wrote. And also on a personal level, it's a combination of things that I think about a lot.
“One, being coffee. And two being oblivion because I've always had this recurring night terror of floating through space and on top of that I'm a skeleton.
“So, I've had an interest in oblivion and the abyss for a long time. And I just thought a ridiculous thing to do would be to marry the two.”
When comparing 'Café Oblivion' to Oh Mercy's older albums Alex says there's a consistency to the releases. “The recording process is pretty similar to the last album I did, in that I recorded on my own in my bedroom playing all the instruments.
“And then I went into the same studio that I finished the last one off at and there I replaced all the drums and bass that I recorded in my bedroom in a more expansive way. And had someone that knew what they were doing mix it.
“Musically, it's a little bit more playful I like to think, the last one was pretty sad. So, I express that through a playful approach to the guitar and to the other instruments on the record.
“There's a lot of romance, but it's not the kind of first-person romance, it's more of an observational romance. These aren’t one-on-one romance stories as such, but there's a romantic feel to them. I'd say that the lyrics, in a similar way to the instrument playing, are really playful.”
Alex thinks this playfulness reflects his current headspace. “I'm 30-years-old, feeling pretty comfortable with myself and in my own skin. So, with that in mind, I felt like I could stretch out a little.
“One of the things that I kept in mind the whole time was that I wanted to be irreverent in my lyric writing. So, there's a lot of very serious notions about death, love and religion that I'm treating pretty carelessly. Which I think is representative of my sense of humour.”
Alex’s favourite track on 'Café Oblivion' is a song called 'Crocodile Meat'. “It’s the second last song on the album. I think it best captures the whole 'Café Oblivion' mantra, which is an irreverent, playful and absurd ethic,” he says.
'Café Oblivion' is available now.
Oh Mercy Tour Dates
Sat 7 Apr - Amplifier Bar (Perth)Sun 8 Apr - The Newport Hotel (Fremantle)
Fri 13 Apr - Lansdowne Hotel (Sydney)
Sat 14 Apr - Black Bear Lodge (Brisbane)
Fri 20 Apr - Howler (Melbourne)
