Tagged By olivia bartley

PREMIERE: Olympia – ‘Honey’ video

, , No Comment

Olympia

Olympia’s new track was inspired by photos of ‘red honey’ – the result of one Utah beekeeper’s idea to feed his bees Candy Canes instead of planting some flora like any other sensible beekeeper would. On ‘Honey’, Olympia (Olivia Bartley) says:

“Honey is about the influence we have on each other. The moment when something happens; you run into an ex, or you open your hive and the honey is the wrong colour. You have this, ‘Is this what I look like? Is that who I am?’ moment.”

The video was shot by director Alex Smith, whose credits include Jack Ladder’s glam-down with Sharon Van Etten, PVT‘s ‘In The Blood’ – or perhaps this low budget one featuring some guy named Chris Martin in soggy thermals stumbling across a beach.

O3

The video for ‘Honey’ is as stoic as the song itself. Olympia dons a Polly Jean jumpsuit and stance, and has all the lighting controls to power a substation or a late night viewing on Rage. Flash footage of Ballet Russes dancers in the 1930s pique the guilt that Bartley alludes to when she sings ‘Every lover you’ve turned your back on / Turns up new in someone else’s arms / I don’t want to see who I am in you, now’. 

Although the ‘studio’ here is arranged for prime-time, she’s playing live for an empty audience. Won’t stay that way for long.

YouTube Preview Image

‘Honey’ is available to purchase on iTunes now.

Facebook / Soundcloud / Web

Read Post →

LISTEN: Olympia

, , No Comment

Olympia_

In the bible of band must-do’s, making the obligatory video clip out of retro stock footage apparently sits somewhere high on the list. We’ve seen it all; grainy snippets of atomic bombs juxtaposed against old cars, against childhood vids, against old hollywood movies, against flower buds opening in slow-mo.

So whether you prefer visual euphemisms or super8 nostalgia, when well edited clips turn up in the eternal retro stock waste pile – you can’t help but pay some damn attention. This clip by Olympia tops it for the best use of footage I’ve seen so far. Build a giant pool at MGM studios, pay some synchro swimmers to dive into coloured flares, add in this singer’s ‘Jazz Buckley’ stylings – stuff just works.

Olympia is Melbourne based singer/songwriter Olivia Bartley. She’s just released her debut EP, which includes contributions from Pat Bourke (Tex Perkins, Dallas Crane) and Brous among others. She’s got a really sweet tone to her voice too. It sits on the borderline between pop/jazz, but for all the indecision; that languid guitar really adds something quite special. There’s something really comforting about Bartley’s tone; it has that honest, late 90s vibe that makes you need a hug. Olympia doesn’t really need that string section in ‘Atlantis’, it’s kind of a noise filler. After listening to other tracks ‘Through It’ and ‘Sleeping Wolves’, it’s really clear that this lady should just be content with a guitar with generous distortion, a room with fairly large ceilings and hey, Fiona Apple’s your pal quicker than you can mumble “Jai Guru Deva…Om”. Or something.

YouTube Preview Image

_____


Facebook / Bandcamp / Web

Read Post →