New Zealand-based band Mild Orange, have shared a video for “Oh Yeah.” The track is off their forthcoming release Looking For Space, due February 11, 2022. The album was recorded in six locations, including New Zealand and New Zealand, it’s also Mild Orange’s first time entering a proper studio which was a necessary part in making this record sound as intended. It’s a sonic journey about navigating life, always finding room to grow, considering outlooks and maintaining belief in oneself as we choose our paths.

Looking For Space will feature video collaborations from NZ to Japan, Indonesia to LA, France and beyond. Despite many hurdles, Mild Orange persisted to connect with the world on this project during this period of global lockdowns and border closures. That’s what Mild Orange have always tried to do – from NZ, for the world.

Mild Orange on “Oh Yeah”

“I wrote the lyrics to ‘Oh Yeah’ to be intentionally about nothing – but within nothing there is always something. In an art history paper I did at uni, there was a quote I came across, and sadly, I’m not sure who from but it went something like: “with art, there is always meaning”. This got glossed over in the lecture but it’s stuck with me for years now. Even the decision not to have meaning has a meaning. I love this irony and found it comical that you can’t escape meaning, so I wanted to write lyrics about nothing, which meant little to me at the time except just to purely feel good. That ‘something’ can become clearer once you look back on the seemingly nothingness you tried to evoke. It was upon reflecting on the song that I realized these words had come from somewhere and could take on some kind of meaning, which is what the spoken word outro is about. I recorded/wrote that outro section improvisationally in one go a couple of months after the initial recording of the song. We wrote and recorded ‘Oh Yeah’ in Carters Beach, on the rugged West Coast of New Zealand at a beach house only separated from the ocean by a paddock with horses roaming in it. It was very laid back and surfy there, which is how the song sounds. We all recorded our parts very laid back and unassumed of what it would become. What does the chorus “oh yeah ah ah ah yeah uh” even mean? No idea, but it feels good to sing.” -Mehrt

The video was directed and filmed by Simon Levalois-Bazier in Biarritz, France entirely on Kodak 16mm film, starring his groovy friends, Evan and Clothilde. We connected with Simon via Instagram. He’s been a fan of Mild Orange for a while and was keen to contribute to the project. Look him up – he makes epic surf and lifestyle videos on film, including for Stab Magazine and various surfboard companies – and he’s an absolutely lovely dude. Like the meaning behind the song, it’s about something coming from seemingly nothing – it doesn’t need to make sense for it to feel good. The sonic surfiness goes hand in hand with Evan & Clothilde’s day in the surf town of Biarritz, and the lo-fi grit of the audio production is harmonious with the retro aesthetics in the film. I need to thank my dad for pushing for “Oh Yeah” to be fully realized. It wasn’t going to be on the album, and probably would’ve been tucked away for ages, but he would play it everyday and nudge me multiple times a week to keep revising it and take the song more seriously. Thankfully for that push, we have this beautiful work to enjoy.

Mild Orange
North American Tour Dates 2022

2/16 – Brooklyn, NY – Baby’s All Right
2/18 – Toronto, ON – Baby G
2/19 – Chicago, IL – Schuba’s
2/23 – Oakland, CA – Starline
2/24 – Los Angeles, CA – The Roxy
2/26 – San Diego, CA – Soda Bar
3/04 – Mexico City, MX – Foro Indie Rocks

Pre-order Looking For Space by Mild Orange HERE