Opal Onyx - Vessel - [Vinyl]

Sarah Nowicki and Matthew Robinson might have cut their teeth in the basements, attics, warehouses and patios of the Brooklyn DIY scene, but thats not where Opal Onyx really began. It was, in fact, a hair salon in Cleveland, Ohio, where they first laid down the foundations for this astounding musical project. Robinson was the receptionist there. I was begging for somebody interesting to walk in, he says. And then Sarah came through the door! Nowicki was in search of work, but also armed with a CD of self-recorded songs that demanded to be listened to. I heard he played the cello and started getting really excited because I had all these songs. At the end of the day, flipped it to Matt, he listened to it in his car, turned straight back around, ran back into the shop and said we have to make music together. A few years later, when Robinson moved to New York, Nowicki soon followed, a deep creative bond now formed. There, they were immersed into the citys DIY scene, a place where brilliant, boundary-pushing projects would emerge and disappear within the space of a week. Their sound was elusive and new, evading genre but somehow capturing something so transcendent that they could weave their way onto any bill in the city. Wed be the one band with a cello at a noise gig, says Nowicki. Then wed fit in to an electronic show, then wed fit into a singer-songwriter show, then an ambient show. With us it was always different, a unique blend of styles all merged in to one. 13 years later, New York has changed. Those basements and bakeries are no more. We dont go to Warehouse spaces anymore because they dont exist, Robinson says. The most important cultural institutions in Brooklyn are all being shut down, and theyre not being replaced. The studio where they recorded their extraordinary new album Vessel throughout last year, as well as its predecessor Delta Sands is among the casualties. I would wake up in the middle of the night and Id be there for 4.45 in the morning, I was that excited to go to the studio. New York is silent there at that time, it was like a playground. Now its been demolished and turned into a parking garage. Theres one thing that hasnt changed; Nowicki and Robinsons creative desire is every ounce as insatiable as it was when that CD exchanged hands in the Cleveland salon. And on Vessel, that shows.

Opal Onyx - Vessel - [Vinyl]

5052442016427