Blackburn-bred singer/songwriter Charlotte OC has got a real taste for slow-burning tension – serving up her unfiltered feelings over a cinematic, bluesy groove in “Cider and Black.”
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Stream: “Cider and Black” – Charlotte OC
Charlotte OC has never exactly done “safe,” but “Cider and Black” feels like she poured herself another glass of Crown Royal at the bar as she lets the place catch fire around her.
Right out the gate, the track moves with this stalking flair: Slinky bass, smoke-thick brass, strings sweeping in like the opening moments of a spy flick, and a swaying drum line dragging its feet with just enough attitude to let you know someone’s about to get some things off their chest. The brass blares and the guitars quiver a bit in a psych-rock way.
This is an upfront and attention-grabbing number, not the sort of thing you absentmindedly put on in the background. Not unless you enjoy a bit of intensity with your morning coffee.
Bathtub Friday
I’ll tell you the truth
I’m touching myself
I’m not thinking of you…
Keys on the dresser
Like a bruise to the skin
I thought by now you
would’ve clocked that it’s him
I’m not thinking of you…
Her vocals slip in with a quiet shock, much like when you hear your other half break their silent treatment without any kind of warning. She opens up with a murmur – almost dares you to look away – then snaps things open on the chorus. Charlotte lets the whole room know that she’s not above putting her business on front street. Instead of settling in one place, her voice shifts between soothing and unsettled… sometimes within the same line. The setup is wonderfully torchy, old-school soul. But the way she swings into those high notes, suddenly it’s less a retro-soul number and more a curtain going up on a big stage show.
Bang, bang goes the drummer
I’ll be gone by the summer
Like a kiss with a fist
there’s no going back
Now I’m knocking it down
like cider and black
Charlotte said it herself: This is her self-destruct moment.
Every bar stings, but not in a head-hung-low kind of way. Our heroine gives off more of a you’ve-pushed-too-far, twitchy stare with a smirk kind of vibe. A little chaotic catharsis is on the playbill and she’s got some lines for the folks watching: painting knives gold, slamming doors, tossing out confessions that clearly double as threats. “Everything that’s bad feels right / Hit me like a hook to the right tonight.” It may be thorny underneath it all, but our leading lady spins the whole thing into something you almost want to toast to.
That kind of gravity needs a soundtrack, and producer Dimitri Tikovoi makes sure that the band’s right there with her. Strings swell, brass bites, twin guitars do this back-and-forth where one sticks to its marks while the second just peels off, notes tumbling and a little reckless. Grand keys shimmer, then this little eerie vibraphone drifts in right before the end. Charlotte’s still dead center – belted vocals, lips curled, running the show.
“Cider & Black” is from Charlotte OC’s recently released EP, Seriously Love, Go Home.
Everything that’s bad feels right
Hit me like a hook to the right tonight
I’m painting on my golden knives
Slam the door
By the time the fade hits, it’s Charlotte’s voice and the last bit of smoke. “Cider and Black” doesn’t clean up after itself. It slams its shot glass down, spills a little whiskey on the bar, and disappears out the door before the sirens arrive.
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Stream: “Cider and Black” – Charlotte OC
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© Stewart Baxter
© Stewart Baxter
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