Oscar - Cut And Paste - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

After a string of rambunctious, critically acclaimed singles, Oscar is delighted to announce that his hotly anticipated debut LP, Cut and Paste. You can hear the clear influence of a West London upbringing in the basement rhythm of InchBe GoodInch or the dub bass line and echo of the anthem, uplifting InchGood ThingsInch. You're hit by the boom-bap break beat of his beloved mid-90s hip hop on InchBreaking My PhoneInch and InchBeautiful WordsInch, before swooning to his more tender side on InchOnly FriendInch, where Oscar is joined by Marika Hackman for a gorgeous duet over a sea of bubbling synths, or InchFifteenInch, an addictive love song, ragged at the edges and wearing it's heart defiantly on it's sleeve. Despite the wide range of influences on display, the album is unified by Scheller's beautiful baritone vocal and his keen ear for a melody. And although self-produced, the resulting album by no means contains the average lo-fi, crackly sound one might expect from someone tagged as a Inchbedroom producerInch. Choosing the strongest songs from the demos that originally attracted Wichita to his music, Scheller set about re-recording the vast majority of the elements at home - not missing the opportunity to step into a proper studio to add live drums (played by his drummer, Aramis Gorriette), alongside his own drum machine programming and sampled breaks for the first time. These new recordings were then passed on to Ben Baptie (Adele, Mark Ronson, Lianne La Havas, Albert Hammond Jr. Etc.) to be mixed and to have the dub-influence turned up further with the subtle echo effects that you can hear throughout if you listen carefully. Overall, Cut and Paste is the sound of a new musical prodigy well and truly arriving, and a more than worthy addition to the lineage of eccentric, classic British pop.