New York-based artist Oropendola (Joanna Schubert) cut her teeth performing with artists such as Half Waif, Barrie and Samir Langus. This Friday, on March 17 to be precise, she’s set to release her debut LP Waiting for the Sky to Speak, following singles “Knocking Down Flowers”, “Trust The Sun” and now finally “Rorschach Sky”.
The latter is a wonderfully unshackled pop kaleidoscope which sounds partially indebted to Broken Social Scene, Broadcast or Stereolab with its warped synths and sparkling zinger-infested lyricism (Big mouths are doing their small talks/ And atheists are praying”). About halfway in, the song flippantly locks into an infectious neo disco groove.
Oropendola sings with a rose-colored delirium, even though there’s a creepy sense she’s actually observing her surroundings at face value. Unbothered by the tangents of time, and embracing the beauty of the moment just as it unfolds, even the most ordinary things tend to bend towards the surreal. “Rorschach Sky” is adorned by a delightfully outlandish music video featuring paper dolls, claymation creatures, pigeon suits and an extremely cranky swan.
“I paused Twin Peaks to watch the kitchen clock,” Schubert says of “Rorschach Sky”. “It was moving backwards. A slow, disorienting, luxuriously surreal countdown. April 7th, 2020, which I only knew because I grabbed my phone to type a bunch of exclamation points in my notepad. I had barely changed out of my pajamas for three weeks. I was happy for Time: being able to veer off course. Stretch like silly putty until becoming shimmery and translucent, changing color and sequence like a kaleidoscope. Shifting identity like the clouds.”
Waiting for The Sky to Speak is released this Friday, March 17, via Spirit House Records and Wilbur & Moore Records. Furthermore, check out “Rorschach Sky” below.
