Opaline Olivia - Suburban Goblin
OPALINE OLIVIA DROPS SUPERB ‘SUBURBAN GOBLIN’
Dream-pop/bedroom-pop artist Opaline Olivia, aka Olivia Buchholz, released a grand, wonderful new album on May 29, entitled Suburban Goblin. The album was mixed and mastered by Austin Smith, who provided ancillary instrumentation.
Opaline Olivia
There’s not a lot of gen available on Olivia, but her music is marvelously divine. She definitely needs one of the big labels to take not and sign her. Not doing so is a blatant disservice to the music.
The term ‘opaline’ comes from the French word opalin, meaning opal in iridescence and/or exuding a milky white sheen. When used as a substantive it refers to any minerals resembling opal and may refer to the whitish liquid/opaline released by a sea hare. I only point this out because the term aptly describes Olivia’s music – iridescent, lustrous, and shining.
Encompassing a baker’s dozen of tracks, the album begins with “Porch Light,” traveling on soft gleaming synths and spectral keyboards. A cogent beat throbs with persuasive energy, as Olivia’s crystalline, deliciously potent, yet almost waif-like tones infuse the lyrics with rainbow-like timbres.
I love the burbling synths on this track, as well as Olivia’s yummy tones, light, and prismatic.
Highlights on the album include “Area Rug,” along with “Too Bad,” perhaps my favorite tune on the album. “Too Bad” opens on thrumming guitars flowing into a light driving rhythm supporting the trembling guitars, while Olivia’s dreamy translucent voice gives the lyrics psychedelic-lite textures.
“Boombox” is vaguely reminiscent of early Madonna gone dream-pop: creamy, sparkling, glowing with luminous pressure. “Stupid 4 U” features a chugging, undulating melody rife with percolating surfaces and glistening filaments. This is pretty much the quintessential dream-pop song – dazzlingly cashmere, wavering, and scrummy to the max.
“Rip Off” rides a shining melody chock-full of retro-80’s synth-pop savors. I love the burbling synths on this track, as well as Olivia’s yummy tones, light, and prismatic.
With Suburban Goblin, Opaline Olivia generates tantalizing, sometimes elusive tendrils of gloriously soft and mellow dream-pop.
