Ohbijou

Artist: Ohbijou
Title: Metal Meets
Label: Kranky
Rating: 8.0

Metal Meets is the third LP from Ohbijou, the seven headed indie pop collective. Fronted by velvet voiced Casey Mecija, Ohbijou have produced an album of drifting beauty and delicate sophistication.

Ohbijou began life as a solo outlet for Mecija but slowly over time, the solo project has expanded into a full band, with the inclusion of Casey’s sister, Jennifer Mecija. Now a completed article, Ohbijou boasts a wide array of eclectic instruments ranging from ukulele to harmochord. It’s this musical approach that gives Metal Meets that conceptual essence.

Metal Meets takes you on a transcendent voyage across ten stunning tracks. Each element of this record could be the backing track to a dream sequence. The way gliding strings and quirky electronics combine to create an audio pillow for your head to comfortably rest upon is wonderfully comforting. This isn’t to say this album is lazy or twee, far from it. A number of tracks build gently and slowly expanding to a searing upsurge of noise to provide a joyous form of release. ‘Sligo’ and ‘Turquoise’ encapsulate this perfectly. As each track shuffles into view, built on a simple drum beat and sweeping strings, then gathering pace, combines elements of guitars, bass and other more elaborate instrumentation, leap onto the tracks like a morning commuter late for a bus.

As already stated, Mecija’s voice is the cherry on the cake of Ohbjiou. Her vocals carry an almost child like quality, but not in a naive way, more of a compelling fashion. The elegant delivery of Mecija’s lyrics give Metal Meets that dream world vibe and blissfully flirt with the majestic orchestration like lovers holding hands across a candle lit dinner table.

Words and Thoughts of Adam Williams