Former Silver Scroll winner Thomas Oliver is releasing his new album 'The Brightest Light' on Friday, 6 March.
I had set out to write a new record in New Zealand where I lived, but I had the distinct sense that I needed to change my surroundings in order to write music that was inspired in a different way. I wanted to write music that felt new to both me and my fans, and I wanted to be inspired by a crazy environment and a new life. So I moved to Berlin, Germany, and set up a studio soon after completing a 19-date European tour. Berlin is unconventional, colourful, and sometimes challenging, which is what made it the perfect place to base myself while I wrote this music. I started writing songs as soon as I touched down; I couldn't help it. I was listening to a lot of Gary Clark Jnr, Son Little and Amos Lee at the time, and those shades are definitely evident throughout. I was also meeting people, checking out live music, and immersing myself in the mellow madness that is Berlin.
For me, having a studio of my own is vital to the creation of an album, because I love to dive deep into the songs and the productions, and explore the dark corners of them all in the small hours of the night. I love to know that I left no stone unturned. 'The Brightest Light' is the result of eight months of diving deep into my musical mind, and exploring my production abilities. Because it is self-produced and self-mixed, I believe it carries a very personal and intimate touch which I find myself drawn to in others' music. I love all sorts of music, but I have a special love for when I can hear a person's mind in the music, rather than a team of people's minds. James Blake, for example; his music sounds like the complexities of one man's mind, and I find that compelling.
The irony of moving to Berlin to make this record is that it doesn't really sound like Berlin at all. You can find anything you want in Berlin, of course, but when I think of Berlin music, I think Alternative Indie Electronic, or Techno, or Metal. But 'The Brightest Light' sounds to me like a combination of Soul, Roots, Folk and Pop, but it certainly carries some of the energy and diversity of Berlin. I also wrote some of this record in Amsterdam, or inspired by encounters in Amsterdam.
My previous album, 'Floating In The Darkness', was a lot darker and more introspective, but this record is more vibrant, more upbeat and colourful, and brighter, which is why I chose the lyrical excerpt from 'You Shine On Me' as the name of the album; 'The Brightest Light'. 'Floating In The Darkness' to 'The Brightest Light' perfectly sums up the trajectory from record to record. My headspace was different for this record; more open and more present.
'She's Mine' is my favourite from the album. It's a bit of a bold statement, which is why I put it as track number one. And I love the distorted vocals, the dirty drums and guitars, deep bass and the dark, rolling groove. I feel that it embodies a lot of things that I love in music. And the process of recording 'Alive Again' was one that I remember fondly. I was back in New Zealand to record my band for the record, and I had this idea of booking the studio, booking the band, setting up our instruments and getting the sounds right, and then teaching to the band a song that I'd written only the day before, and then pressing record right then and there, just to make sure we captured true room energy. No metronome and no rehearsal. And I can't imagine the album without that energy.
Whilst I played most of the instruments on the record, I also worked with some of my favourite musicians from across Germany, New Zealand and Australia, including all of the members of my live touring band. It's definitely an international record. I also co-wrote 'Coffee' with my friend and fellow Kiwi singer-songwriter, Mitch James. Mitch is a master of writing pop hooks, and we had a great session in Berlin when he was visiting, and we ended up with 'Coffee'. I'm stoked to have a touch of Mitch on the album.
This is a singer-songwriter record, but it goes to places that most singer-songwriter records don't go. I'm very proud of it; the writing, the playing, the production and the mixing. I'm very happy to send it out to the world.