WL//WH Premiere: OKAY LINDON Clears Out “Yesterday’s Wisdom”

Cincinnati, Ohio-based Ambient Pop quartet Okay Lindon are set to drop, on October 20th, through Ohio’s independent label Poptek Records, their sixth release, “Passion Pain”, to bring another swerve into the band’s meandering atmospheric melodic sound.

Lately influenced by Berlin’s Dub Techno from the late ‘90s/early 00s (Mark Ernestus & Moritz von Oswald, Stefan Betke/Pole), the group deftly combines both electronic and organic instrumentation that fit together seamlessly, floating over cold, synthy, reggae rhythms, all tied together with instantly memorable catchy hooks.

The foreboding tone of a title like “Passion Pain” is intentional, “I wanted to make a record that was kind of a rebuttal to the joy and clarity I felt on the last two albums. There is this unwavering tension in me between a progressive, relativistic spirituality and this old, comfortable feeling of having someone else do all the thinking for me. I felt like my anger could be an expression of love, so I just wanted to outpour all the darkness and frustration that I feel right now.according to Dustin Smith

The 4-piece, made up of Dustin Smith (vocals, guitars), Jordan Elam (drums, vocals), Erica Beimesche (vocals, violin), and Andrew McEwen (keyboards), the latter based in Portland, tease the soulful second single, “Yesterday’s Wisdom”, WL//WH is pleased to Premiere.

“Yesterday’s Wisdom” was the first song I wrote for ‘Passion Pain’ and provided the lyrical framework for the rest of the record. The previous two Okay Lindon albums were released during a period where I felt like I was celebrating some creedal clarity or vision for my life. I thought I was on the mountaintop and looking down. The last 4-5 years have not been so kind and so I wanted to throw some black paint all over that.Dustin Smith

An ambient backdrop of distant urban field recordings sets the stage for a heady fusion of lilting, metronomic crisp dubwise beats, murky sub-bass vibrations, and slow warped droning synth swells, gently pierced by harmonious wistful wandering melodies from prickly, glistening guitars and warm frictional violin swathes, alternating with layered uplifting soulful vocal devotions, letting go of ‘Yesterday’s Wisdom’ to make room for more.

<a href="https://okaylindon.bandcamp.com/album/passion-pain">Passion Pain by Okay Lindon</a>

Okay Lindon‘s forthcoming LP, “Passion Pain”, is due out, in Ltd. Cassette & Digital, on October 20, 2023, via Poptek Records.

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