In a special Valentine's Day surprise, New York underground legends Oneida have shared a new track from their upcoming album Romance. "Good Lie," an exploratory track foregrounding hypnotic synth interplay, premiered this morning along with an interview on Dangerous Minds. "Good Lie" showcases the massive scope of Romance, which shows Oneida exploring a multitude of approaches to psychedelic music, from long-form freakouts to compact, tightly wound songs. "Good Lie" builds layers of electronics that crest into a stately climax of interlocking rhythms and pulses of static.
Oneida has been a cornerstone of the Brooklyn underground for nearly two decades. Always evolving, the group has been a beacon of musical exploration and enthralling unpredictability, gaining legendary status among heads that know and expanding the limits of what it means to be a rock band. With a discography spanning over a dozen full-lengths, plus live releases, EPs, singles, and limited one-offs, Oneida_has demonstrated a mastery of_collective improvisation, off-kilter_songwriting, complex composition, and everything in between.
In 2011 Oneida lost its home base,_its_studio dubbed the_Ocropolis_in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, due to the pervasive gentrification and_over-development of the neighborhood that was once a thriving arts community. After_watching the Monster Island building that housed the_Ocropolis_transform into a pile of rubble, the band began an intense period of exploration and discovery, retreating from the studio in favor of the stage, and birthing a panoply of limited, uncompromising_releases that documented the band's_continuously_unfolding_journey. Six_years after the_release_of_A List of the Burning Mountains, the final_emission from the_Ocropolis, the band will release their newest studio creation_Romance, their first album for Joyful Noise Recordings and_a record marked by wild eclecticism, even for a group known for its shape-shifting nature.
Recorded over several_years in various_locales, the 11 songs on_Romance_are built around deeply developed long-arc rhythm/phase concepts, noise, yearning, blind guitar rage, longing, the lurch of dying electronics, and a multi-modal embrace of human fallibility and artifice. From the_crackling_synth-led opener "Economy Travel" to the expansive 18-minute epic_"Shepherd's Axe,"_Romance_is an album in constant flux. On "Bad Habit" the band employs phasing between organ and guitar to great, disorienting effect, while the primitive riffs of "Cockfight" offer a contrasting vision of rock minimalism._Listen closely on "Lay of the Land" and you will hear constant rhythmic development, with drummer Kid Millions eschewing repetition in favor of morphing patterns of hi-hat and snare. As with all mystery,_Romance_reveals more through closer attention and multiple listens.
Oneida, always formidable in the live environment, will be touring throughout the year._Kid Millions remains one of the most in-demand drummers in New York, exploring the outer reaches of percussion music with his own Man Forever project, as well as playing with Laurie Anderson, Royal_Trux, and People of the North with Oneida compatriot Bobby Matador. Bobby also takes part in the psych-pop duo Nurse & Soldier, and recently formed yet another duo called New Pope. Guitarist_Shahin_Motia_is a co-founder of underground stalwarts Ex Models and_Knyfe_Hyts._Through it all_Oneida remains_a powerful collective_voice, a propulsive force for wildness and excitement, with_Romance_heralding the return of the epic, artful ballad version of the journey.
Photo Credit: Jeffrey Brandsted
Videos