DMV rap veteran Oddisee has been quiet since the release of his 2017 album album The Iceberg, but today, he returned with a surprise EP, Odd Cure, to address the strange times we’re all currently living through.
Recorded through two weeks of precautionary quarantine after returning from tour in Thailand earlier this year, Odd Cure is his attempt to unravel the anxiety, depression, and isolation of being suddenly confronted with all the looming implications of a pandemic outbreak. Like many independent artists, Oddisee relies on touring, merchandise sales, and sync licensing to support himself, and the sudden loss of that huge portion of his income, as well as the deadlier connotations of the coronavirus outbreak, weigh heavily on the dense, surprisingly soulful EP.
Although the subject matter is heavy, the production is lush, as Oddisee employs a fusion of soul grooves, jazz instrumentation, and hometown go-go influences to build out the sound. The six songs of the EP are broken up by skits marked by terse phone calls with friends and family discussing the effects of social distancing, quarantine, and economic shutdown on Oddisee and his nearest and dearest.
Odd Cure is out now on Outer Note. Listen to Oddisee’s surprise EP above.