Is there something a little chilly about the 'Black Oak' EP? The cover shows snowy landscapes that look possibly Alpine, and the video for 'Rove' was filmed on what looks like a chilly winters day, with the wind whipping up the sand in the expanse of dunes that make up the widescreen feeling imagery. There's a spaciousness, almost a bleakness about the often barren landscape, but it still looks quite beautiful, and is perfectly apt for a song that also uses expansiveness to create its mood. It's no quick-fire indie-punk hit, that's for sure. 'Black Oak' is in fact a collaboration between Dutch band The Black Atlantic and their countrymen I Am Oak, both established acts with decent fanbases.
So how do they work together? Judging by 'Rove', they have a mutual understanding; you'd be hard-pushed to spot this was even a collaboration, they sound like one band with a fully-formed sound. Hopefully, with the recent warm weather, the imagery they give us will be the last glimpses of winter that we get for a while. Mind you, the song is the perfect antidote: a warming, unhurried, spacious and wonderfully arranged track that would fit indie-rock as much as post-rock and folk as much as dreampop. The smart move here is not making it too long. So often music of a similar style can be draw-out to beyond the point where interest begins to wane, but there are no such problems here. Perhaps Black Oak might become an occasional band in their own right. We'd certainly have no objections.
I Am Oak's website
The Black Atlantic's website
Stream The EP in full
Buy the EP
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