Comprised of Olivia Hally and Pepita Emmerichs, Melbourne, Australia-based electro folk duo Oh, Pep! can trace their origins to when the act formed while Hally and Emmerichs were students at a music secondary school. And since 2012, the duo have quickly amassed a tremendous amount of commercial and critical success at a relatively young age — the duo have released three EPs that have received both national and international attention, including a huge CMJ last year in which KCRW, NPR‘s Bob Boilen breathlessly praised them, a NPR Tiny Desk Concert appearance and a Nashville’s AMA’s Pop Matters appearance, as well as appearances at The Woodford Folk Festival, Port Fairy Folk Festival, The National Folk Festival in Canberra, and Folk Alliance International, Kansas City. And over the past year or so, the Australian duo have become JOVM mainstay artists.
This year may arguably be one of the biggest years to date for the duo as their much-anticipated full-length debut Stadium Cake is slated for release next month through Dualtone Records. Recorded and produced by renowned Canadian producer Daniel Ledwell in Echo Lake, Nova Scotia last August, the album reportedly has the duo expanding upon the songwriting approach and sound that first won them national and international attention — namely the duo’s ability to subtly mesh lightness and darkness within their material. The album’s first single “Doctor Doctor” has the band pairing stuttering cascades of synths, propulsive boom bap drums with Hally and Emmerich’s ethereal and sultry vocals singing lyrics focusing on a narrator that is not only suffering through self-doubt and indecision but someone who from their own foolishness has found themselves forced to make one of the most difficult life-altering decisions of their entire life — in the case of the video, the song’s narrator discovers that she’s pregnant. And her decision not only impacts her life but the life of her partner — although to be fair, the bulk of impact will be on her. Of course the video reflects the palpable sense of tension within the song as you’ll see the fear and uncertainty on the faces of both of the video’s central pair.
Haley and Emmerichs along with their backing band are in the middle of a lengthy world tour which will include a June 29 stop at the Mercury Lounge. Check out tour dates below.
