Ola Village (Jon Olav) has an anger management problem. Or perhaps he doesn’t. In this, the third song from an EP which will be released towards the end of the year, he’s debating the relative values of his adversaries in his own head, imagining arguments with them and what sort of stance he would take. ‘A sort of hymn to all of us passive aggressive heroes who just want to spread good vibes even when the opposite person is a complete asshole.’ I have a feeling he has someone particular in mind, don’t you?
Hm, it sort of verges on paranoia Ola but we’ll give you the benefit of any doubt because (a) the song is upbeat and cheerful and we’re really up for those just now, and (b) you have the ability to meld serious social observation with Scandi-Noir style lyrics (“Hey, did you know / Sometimes I push you in the river...Should’ve gotten rid of you yesterday / A god damn pain in the ass”) with light-hearted comment (‘I win every time’) and with catchy tunes, which is a rare talent.
And the ending, it’s so peculiar. He’s got me arguing with myself now. Does it represent some sort of climb down? Or that he is in some way deflated, because his alter ego won the battle for a change?
He’s an intriguing artist for sure and I’m even more intrigued by the PR photo in which he reminds me of Benny Hill, a comedian of depth that often went unnoticed amongst the silly ‘Hills Angels’ chases and bald head slapping. He’s a musical equivalent of Benny in many ways.
‘Anger Problems’ follows previous singles ‘A Ok’ and ‘Love to Cry’, both of which have been reviewed in NMR, and with all three tracks set to appear on Ola Village's debut EP.
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