The Cool Cloud of Okayness is Tara Jane O’Neil’s latest record and her first in seven years, available April 26 on limited vinyl and digital through Ordinal Records. The diverse sonic landscapes that comprise this new album expand on O’Neil’s growth from her post-hardcore and post-rock roots in the Louisville, KY scene of the early 1990s. At times atmospheric, at other moments rhythmically pulsating, and with O’Neil’s vocal and instrumental presence lending cohesiveness to the whole, the set can be described as retro-futuristic but in an invigorating way, avoiding retread. There is also a reinforcement of O’Neil’s strengths as a songwriter and some exploratory guitar that’s classically Californian.
Yes, it’s been seven years since her last full-length album, an eponymous effort in the singer-songwriter style (a first for O’Neil), but she’s been busy collaborating and experimenting all the while, so that The Cool Cloud of Okayness shows no signs of rust. Impacted by and developed during the pandemic and after the Thomas Fire destroyed the Upper Ojai, California home O’Neil and her partner, the dancer and choreographer Jmy James Kidd, shared with their dog, the record was recorded in the home studio built at the site of their loss.
Unsurprisingly, The Cool Cloud of Okayness is a powerful LP, but it’s not overly heavy in emotional terms. The opening title track features a return to the singer-songwriter zone, the mood in this case jazzy-folky, with O’Neil’s singing and strumming, pretty but sturdy, given an injection of hovering slide guitar (described as “guitar ghost notes”) courtesy of Marisa Anderson. Other guest contributors include Meg Duffy of Hand Habits and Duffy x Uhlmann, Sheridan Riley of Alvvays and multi-instrumentalist Walt McClements.
“Seeing Glass” is an immediate shift in gears, tapping into that retro-futuristic vibe mentioned up top. Evoking but not derivative of Stereolab, it’s just as fair to say the track cultivates a vaguely ’70s Germanic vintage analog feel in its use of keyboards. Ambience swells up and dissipates in the gliding transition into “Two Stones,” which begins with a lone looped vocal and a gradual rise of processed guitar from Duffy before the layered rhythm kicks in and O’Neil’s voice reemerges in lyrical mode.
There’s also some horns and even a spiraling-soaring guitar flourish that sounds like it was excised with a scalpel from the gib of some late-’70s prog-fusioneer. A slow fade leads into “We Bright,” which is reminiscent of the indie ’90s a la Chan Marshall and Mary Timony but with subtle undercurrent in the mix that feels aligned with ’90 electronica, but lacking in gloss (one could even call it lo-fi).
The drifting ambient fragment “A Dash” conjures images of O’Neil playing guitar while leaning against a boulder in the desert. From there, the instrumental thrust of “Glass Island” does radiate a bit of the post-hardcore of yore, that sound contrasting well with the airy quality of O’Neil’s voice. Particularly appealing is the avoidance of slow build-up and release (in the post-HC manner), which by now would risk cliché.
The retro-futuristic feel returns in “Curling,” with its keyboard pulse incessant as it unfurls a multi-faceted weave. “Fresh End” begins with some affinities for the drone followed by a glorious instrumental intermingling that rises up and extends beyond six minutes, gradually shifting structurally all the way through. It’s the first of the LP’s two consecutive non-vocal tracks. The second, “Kaichan Kitchen,” is a magnificent gentle-psych move that brings the set to an immersive, reflective, beautiful close.
The first seven tracks on this record drive home Tara Jane O’Neil’s sheer range as a tunesmith, broadening out far beyond singer-songwriter norms. Her lyrics are meaningful and well-written and vocalized with verve, and the music is warmly eclectic, a quality that’s emphasized in the last two selections. O’Neil has described The Cool Cloud of Okayness as an “album of songs in the tradition of albums,” and that’s exactly right. She’s made a good one.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
