The Line Or The Curve is the debut ep by Octavian Winters who formed in 2022 in San Francisco, the band are Ria Aursjoen, Stephan Salit, Randy Gzebb and Jay Denton recorded by Mark Pistel in San Francisco and Mixed and Mastered by William Faith in Chicago.
The Ep opens with Ondine a shimmering gauzy dream pop evocation of Ondine's world, not certain if it's Warhol Superstar Ondine or Ondine the Water Nymph, although the latter seems more feasible with the sound they have, the more you listen to this, the more that will reveal itself from the layered mix, as the sound washes over you while they hold you in their arms by the sea shore.
Undertow is what you hope you aren't being dragged beneath the brine by, as the sound swirls above you like a whirlpool of guitars, synths and dense layers with a glossy sheen encapsulating Ria's vocal, as she tries not to be sucked under.
Surreal that most over-used word to describe the world in the last few years, in this case a Surreal tale in a slow gothic dreamscape, with guitars played like harps, evoking the Cocteau Twins.
The latest single from the EP Velveteen has a dark brooding dancefloor beat, with questioning vocals delving into the rubble of our times, hoping to find the perfect creature dressed in Velveteen, allowing them to lose themselves in a dream world, better than the one they actually live in.
The album closes with Nebula that uses guitars for punctuation, as a dreamy keyboard figure accentuates Ria's vocals as she tries to avoid Starbirth In The Triffid Nebula, not that they sound at all like that classic tune, this is far darker and gothier as they float out into the ether.
Find out more at https://octavianwinters.bandcamp.com/album/the-line-or-curve https://octavianwinters.com/
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