Nashville-based Oginalii’s dark and driving song “No Littering” is a passionate, edgy anthem for the freedom of choice.
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I hope this song can be a reminder to all the beautiful women out there of your inner power.
With President Donald Trump openly expressing anti-abortion sentiment and the looming confirmation of ultra-conservative Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, the next few years promise to be critical to the debate over reproductive rights in the United States. It is as important now, as in any other era in history, that men and women raise their voices to the loudest decibel in expressing support for freedom of choice – a woman’s right to control her own body. The most powerful tool we have at our disposal is our vote (register and find out if you are registered at vote.org), but while we wait for the 2018 midterms and then the 2020 election, people from all over the country are speaking up and speaking out – through art, protest, music, and more. Nashville’s Oginalii are one such example of artists using their medium as a vessel not only for self-expression, but also for sending a message: Their dark and driving song “No Littering” is a passionate, edgy anthem for the freedom of choice.
My sister cries, she doesn’t know why.
Fortunate sins, is that what were meant to live in.
They just go hand in hand
An oxymoron found its wit
Were all gonna go sick
Stream: “No Littering” – Oginalii
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/496120230?secret_token=s-O7XJE” params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=true&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “No Littering,” the sophomore single off Oginalii’s upcoming debut album, Cause and Affection (out April 9, 2019). Based in Nashville, Oginalii (pronounced oh-gun-ALL-ee) is the indie rock band fronted by singer/guitarist Emma Hoeflinger alongside Ryan Quarles (guitar), Simon Knudtson (drums), and Emma Lambiase (bass). Taking from the world of grunge, garage, shoegaze, psych, and more, Oginalii introduced themselves two years ago with blues rock singles “Red” and “This Weight.” In 2017, the band’s The Grey EP further established their heavy sound and absolute indulgence of freewheeling rock: Lead single “Substance Abuse” is a mesmerizing and vulnerable musical unveiling especially pertinent to this time, but hard-hitting songs like “Static” and “Dogs” round out the band’s repertoire and identity.
Oginalii introduced Cause and Affection last month with lead single “Further In/Out,” an infectiously pulsing hard rock banger that finds Hoeflinger taking no prisoners. “No Littering” follows with a slower pace and deeper beat, its grooves swelling with emotive energy. Centered around the freedom of choice, the track provokes listeners of all backgrounds while making a strong case for a woman’s right to determine what to do with her own body.
My faith isn’t dead,
I only want my words to give
Am I not yours, a carbon copy
with something more to live
They just go hand in hand
An oxymoron found its wit
We’re all gonna go sick, sick sick
“What started as a song about freedom of choice became one of the most challenging songs I’ve written lyrically,” Emma Hoeflinger tells Atwood Magazine. “I didn’t want anyone to feel alienated by the topic. You can be religious, atheist, loving, caring, and still not have to have kids. That’s not your identity as a woman. We were all a miracle to someone at one point as a child and that doesn’t mean you stopped being one. Together we all created a song that has my favorite blend sonically. We pushed ourselves with the progression of the song and gave the message a platform to stand on. I hope this song can be a reminder to all the beautiful women out there of your inner power.”
Sick, sick, sick
No littering
Hoeflinger continues, “I think we’re all a little put back with how easy it is to attack someone with an opposing opinion. I know I’m not free of such backlash with an opinion in full support of the female, but if we don’t come to a common ground where it’s rooted in acceptance, then we will be our own demise. ‘No Littering’ is meant to find that common ground and shake new life into the sense that women can choose WHATEVER they want in this life, and that is true beauty. That option of choice is your humanity, which is your own and not up for the taking by anyone. The message behind the song and the emotion that ensues with everything I do falls into the greater plan – that being our full length, ‘Cause and Affection.’ It’s about learning to love the sometimes exhausting and trying parts of your inner compass. Tragic empathy is where I’ve landed, because of the romanticism behind ‘the tragedy.’ Living your life through love and affection regardless of the cause.”
A step into the light,
isn’t one that’s meant for fight
A choice is always made,
to begin is no more than to end
They just go hand in hand
An oxymoron found its wit
Were all gonna go sick, sick sick
Expansive and turbulent, “No Littering” explodes with empowered fury and understandable ire about a culture war doesn’t have any middle ground: Either you believe in individual liberty, including but not limited to a person’s freedom to self-determination and the right to choose how to handle their own body, or you believe in restricting such individual liberty – in which case, I invite you to engage in an open dialogue that will cover everything from abortion to gun control.
A moving piece of energy and emotion in its own right, “No Littering” kicks ass and kickstarts an important conversation that Americans should be having at every dinner table across the nation. Provocative, dark, and burning with inner fire, Oginalii’s latest single demands that we address this topic with the magnitude and gravitas it deserves.
American citizens: You can register to vote, find out if you are registered to vote, get an absentee ballot, and more at vote.org (more info below)
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? © Matt Blum
