Oswald returns to Cafe Berlin with dreamlike songs

By Elena K. Cruz Columbia Daily Tribune

Lucas Oswald's pop music is dreamy — but not in the traditional sense.

He's no Justin Bieber or Jesse McCartney, who are often known for their romantic eyes and bubblegum pop songs. Oswald's music, instead, is closer to that of The Shins or Father John Misty. He sounds like he's falling into a haze, and he's taking the listener with him whether they want to follow or not.

Once a local, now based in Austin, Texas, Oswald will play his indie-pop music at Café Berlin Friday. He's returning to that stage for the second time this year in a concert alongside indie-folk artist Rae Fitzgerald.

His music has a heavy focus on production, as shown with his use of soft voice overlays — but it's not even close to being too sleepy, due to his methodical use of steady drum beats and a grounding bass.

"Open Me Up," from his September 2017 release "Whet," showcases this juxtaposition, with the contradictory pounding and chiming percussion. He then piles on the lyrics "Have you like a dream / As someone holding onto me / Let that be enough / Just open me up" to add weight to his sedative sound.

In contrast, he forms a much more upbeat melody in "Dark on Us," from the same album, over which he sings the gloomy lyrics, "You light the fire in me / To feel the dark on us."

The rhythm behind his voice is quick-paced, and his voice echoes itself in a much more manicured way than in "Open Me Up" — but his lyrics create tension where his production shrinks it.

Oswald constructs further dimension in his full product, "Whet." The album features smooth transition after transition between songs, going from slow to fast to slow again, and dreamlike to awake to dreamlike once more. It mimics an REM cycle, and exemplifies a thoughtful delivery. Oswald doesn't only focus on individual songs, but their existence as a whole.

Oswald has produced music for Columbia's Fitzgerald, and his return to Columbia only further exemplifies a focus on cyclic and thoughtful artistic processes. And, if this wasn't enough, Oswald can't stop being dreamy — he works under a very appropriately named record label, Cosmic Dreamer. 

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