- Rich, highly personal house.
- Octo Octa's previous two albums, Between Two Selves and Where Are We Going?, were outlets for healing and processing during transition. For Lovers is billed as Octo Octa's most vulnerable work to date, building on her quest for cathartic "emotional content." The cover art, made by Octo Octa's partner, Brooke, is an embroidered collage of shimmering beads and shells. It pieces together different materials to form a picture somewhere between an underwater landscape and a starry sky, with swathes of pink, blue and gold that evoke the tenderness of Octo Octa's music.
The EP's mesmerising standout, "I Need You," complements Brooke's artwork. A ten-minute ode to a tapestry of friends, family and lovers, it's like a cosmic love letter. Gentle vocals ripple over spacey breakbeats, marking the first time Octo Octa has recorded her own voice since transitioning. "I need you," she says. "Thank you for being there, it means so much to me." "Bodies Meld Together" is less shimmer, more punch. An autobiographical snapshot of an intensely spiritual physical encounter, snappy hi-hats and crisp drums lay the foundations for a throwback vocal riff, warm synths and fluttering keys. There's a slight loss of momentum in the later moments—one unnecessary reprise, perhaps—but "Bodies Meld Together" remains fluid and sensual, its textures entwined like tangled limbs.
Octo Octa made "Loops For Healing," a more downtempo melodic house cut, shortly after the 2017 release of Where Are We Going? It lay untouched for over a year until she played it out in a club. In the midst of a frustrating DJ set, it proved restorative, a reminder that music allows her to adopt the role of the healer and the healed. With vulnerability comes strength, and each Octo Octa record further builds a catalogue that serves as a rich, therapeutic memoir.
TracklistA1 I Need You
B1 Bodies Meld Together
B2 Loops For Healing