I Am Oak release their new single ‘Swells’ today. We are debuting the accompanying beautiful atmospheric video, shot on the Faroe islands, which centres on a black horse.
I Am Oak are from the Netherlands and based around singer-songwriter Thijs Kuijken. They craft modest and calm songs threaded with guitars. But for their upcoming album ‘Osmosis’ they reinvented their sound, writing songs with piano as a starting point, which is reflected on their new song ‘Swells’. Its subtly shifting ambient pianos hang heavy like the mist of the sky, gathering into a haunting plaintive vocal that personifies the breathtaking beauty of the natural world. Sonically its a sound that has distant echoes of Sigur Ros and Antony and the Johnsons.
‘Swells‘ will be featured on the new album Osmosis, set for release on the 6th of September.
Thijs Kuijken about the song and the video:
“For the new album Osmosis I tried to approach songwriting in a slightly different way by using a piano as the core instrument. I had never really done this and I was interested in finding out where my songs would go by doing this. In the song ‘Swells’ I got to explore the more atmospheric aspect of the piano sound, using it to create both a very complex and full sound as well as a very minimalistic approach with a lot of open spaces combined in one song.
The video reminds us of Eastern philosophies of harmony and balance. In the video we see videomaker Martijn Bastiaans’ meditation on the evanescence of the natural world, shot during his residency on one of the Faroe Islands. A solitary horse at its center, subjected to the elements and surrounded by a landscape shaped over time by wind and water. The staggering horse is showing us a lust for life and reminds us subconsciously of mortality at the same time, like the yang side of things showing the yin at the same time.”
Videomaker Martijn Bastiaans adds:
“While I was staying at the Faroe Islands I kept seeing a horse from the house we were staying at, on a mountain far away. I couldn’t keep my eyes off it. I wanted to investigate further and looked for the owner. The farmer who owned the horse immediately asked if I wanted to have the horse when I mentioned it. I could kill it or eat it, it really didn’t matter to him. Years ago the farmer got the horse for his daughter, but she lost interest in her almost immediately. Now she’s almost 20 years old and has been standing in the same place in the mountains for years, with the most beautiful of views. Time has come to a halt there. The farmer wants to get rid of her, so soon he will dig a hole and shoot her.” This is our perpetuation for her.”
