Following on from Land Of All Pretend’ his critically acclaimed debut album Oly Sherman releases another significant piece of work with his “Wide Awake” EP.  Brimming with 6 killer tracks, ‘Wide Awake’ traverses numerous genres with confident ease taking the listener on a joyous aural galavant.

The title track ‘Wide Awake’ kicks off the EP showing off the class of Oly’s musicians, successfully meshing atmospheric void with the purest of grooves, it’s the perfect taste of things to come!

Oly then basks in the beauty of ‘Dancin’ in the Rain’. A beautiful, vulnerable display of strength, Oly’s sumptuous vocal tones take us on a journey of pure joy and artistry. Speaking to his philosophy of enjoying the simple pleasures of life, Dancin’ in the Rain’ sees airy synths, a deliciously grooving baseline, and fluttering sporadic keys work in harmony, elevating Olys honeyed vocal tones. The shining strength of this single is the crooning, saxophone solo that brings to life the feeling of walking through Paris at midnight under spheres of illumination from weathered street lamps.

“Dancin’ In The Rain is about enjoying the little things and getting out of your own head. The rain is a symbol for doing things that aren't necessarily comfortable at first, but doing them because of the valuable people around you, and the ultimate joy of jumping in.” Oly Sherman

The third song is Chase It Up (Feat.Boovuego).Soulful, electronic, viscous and mesmerizing are a few words that come to mind but Oly elaborates;

“Chase it up is my first electronic collaboration track to date, with my side project Boovuego. Throughout covid, I had been listening to a lot of jazz house music and becoming obsessed with the DJ culture associated with the genre. I wanted to create a background track that was heavy hitting yet simultaneously relaxing. Chase it up is about those blissful days when you’re spending time on something you love, and the days end feels like it’s over. I do a lot of my work in the day rather than the evening, and I always envisioned the idea of chasing the sun back up so that I can resume my work flow-state.”

Next track off the rank is ‘Taste’ which is a project that Oly worked on with engineer Daniel Natoli. The sound, in the same vein as soulful releases from Matt Corby and Tash Sultana, is all-encompassing in its warm tone and texture, a fresh direction for Sherman. ‘Taste’ keeps his core sound but presents it revitalised.

“After around eight months of making new music, the idea with ‘Taste’ was to make something that people could dance to, whilst still feeling like an ‘Oly Sherman’ song. The song is honestly about being grateful, and to just enjoy the life I have rather than scope out the things I don’t have. ‘Taste’ became a starting point for the new type of music I’ve been creating recently.” 

Then we have Oly’s latest single ‘Fire’. A beautiful, vulnerable display of strength, Oly’s sumptuous guitar and vocal tones take us on a journey of pure joy and artistry.

Coming in at 5 minutes 35 seconds ‘Fire’ takes you on a breathtaking emotional aural odyssey. Underpinned by a looping military-esq snare and perfect jangly guitar, Oly’s deliberate vocals exude a power that draws you in, then morphing into an opulent choral crescendo. The result is nothing short of exceptional.

“Fire is one of my favourite songs to date, and the writing process captures its essence. I had experienced writing-block for the first time late last year, and the song came as ‘verbal therapy’ for me. The lyrics are a self-written letter, to remind myself why I love doing what I do”.

Like previous releases, ‘Fire’ was recorded at Sherman’s home studio, with final touches applied at A-Sharp Studios. The single was then refined by both Oly Sherman and engineer Daniel Natoli. 

Then finally the cruisey beautiful  Chi Sono  finishes proceedings perfectly.

Since releasing his first single in 2017, Sherman has carved out a devout following of listeners yearning for his soul-laden songs. In that time he has seen break-out success from single ‘Homeboy’ which accumulated 300k streams alongside a steady fan base of monthly listeners on Spotify that hovers at around 20k+, Oly Sherman has proven his dynamism in spades. 

With two sold out shows at iconic sydney venue The Lansdowne, the Newtown Festival and notable support slots for Slum Sociable, Alex The Astronaut and Matthew Young, Oly Sherman will be sharing his honeyed vocals and grooving beats with a number of headline shows.