New album Bleech Mountain by Ollie Byrd is quite the storyteller, from the starting line to the finish. This album masterfully blends its elements, and I mean right from the very get go. From second track “Escape from Dune” to next, “The Island of the Dream,” the songs transition effortlessly into one another with such smooth tact, making the album a must-experience in its presented order.
Track “Strawberry Feeled” lands forth on the album and for me this is where the story telling really comes into play lyrically. ‘I never ever needed no one / I want you by my side/ I wanted one last time, I never ever wanted someone.’ Travels so effectively into the next song’s storyline…. ‘and I know that you won’t be back this way again/ and I know that the things won’t be the same again,’ opens next track, “The Sun Will Bring the Day Again.” I feel the overarching theme of the album can be interpreted as either a dual effort or a singular, internal reckoning – a relationship with oneself that must be (or has been) shed. I was able to relate it to my own inner demons just as easily as I could to the fresh wounds of a recently ended relationship. I love and truly appreciate when lyrics are crafted with such flexibility.
Next in line we have “Promotion Ocean,” a song that takes us unto another travesty a lot of us must face and can relate to, as the lyrics belch out, ‘I got a corporate job!’ – a moment of both self-achievement and defeat. For me, it addresses more self identifiers in which we dub huge stages – moments of progression or regression, and how often these moments can be confused with flooding feelings on both fronts. Followed by the next track, “Beyond Blue Bayou,” which couldn’t be more perfectly placed as the premier instrumental track for the album… giving us the calming landscape to process the foregoing thoughts of what they mean to us.
“Slowdance with Tree,” and “Carousel Over the Sea” take my mind’s vibrations to an abstract place, reminiscent to a lot of Ollie Byrd’s past music for myself. Within these two songs, the album has a slight shift and begins to take on a bit of a more upbeat trajectory and licensing on feelings and outcomes. Lyrics for track “Your Home Sweet Home” quote, ‘I found the reason, don’t leave me all alone/ look outside your home sweet home it takes your breath away,” remind me a lot of older track “Owl Pagoda,” not necessarily the instrumental layout of the song but the lyrical display of beauty amongst self defeat and yet still having that push of progression and forward thinking behind them.
Second to last track on the album, “Flight of the Blue Morpho,” was definitely the anthem track for myself. ‘When it seems you’ve lost the war and your friends have gone away/ remember there is one thing that they cannot take away: skateboards and Jesus and New York City trains!’ Oh, how many times I’ve lost it all and had a very similar mantra that had to humbly be enough!
What a fun album to traverse different highs and lows, definitely one of my favorites of the year so far! Ollie Byrds’ Bleech Mountain was released May 30 and is available now on streaming services, you absolutely don’t want to miss out on this one.
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