Skip to main content

Maverick Ad

Home

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Cover Stories
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Cashbox Legacy Awards
  • Past Covers
  • Weekly Archive
Cabin Pressures: OUDi’s Emotions Are Up In The Air On Transporting New Hit “Afraid Of Flying”

Breadcrumb

  • Home
  • Cabin Pressures: OUDi’s Emotions Are Up In The Air On Transporting New Hit “Afraid Of Flying”
OUDi
Thu May 02, 2024
Cashbox Canada

Her solo career may be soaring, but OUDi still doesn’t like heights. On her latest single, industrial pop’s prodigal daughter admits she’s “Afraid of Flying”—because the higher you go, the farther you might plummet.

I miss the horizon, I miss the views
It never used to scare me but now I know the truth
That what goes up, must come down
I’m afraid of flying, I’m afraid of heights
‘Cause now I know what it feels like, falling from that high
Feeling so helpless, I can’t help it
Oh, I’m afraid of flying

Those are understandable sentiments indeed for an artist who’s only recently made a bold return to her roots after a wildly successful sojourn into contemporary country. (As Chrystal Leigh, she was one-half of the Billboard-charting, CCMA Award-nominated duo Sons of Daughters.) But for all the existential dread OUDi professes as she navigates the uncharted territory of a solo career, the new record represents the best of the two worlds she’s inhabited. You can hear the country chops in her catlike purr as she confesses her innermost anxieties over the dark, immersive soundtrack of electronic rattles and horror-movie stabs assembled by producers Dave "Rave" Ogilvie (a veteran of sessions with Skinny Puppy and Nine Inch Nails) and Anthony "Fu" Valcic (known for his work with Front Line Assembly and Julien-K).

Listen on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/track/5F4fGu5UWDbQkFLOBxufp8

“‘Afraid of Flying’ speaks to the fear that keeps us from taking those imperative leaps of faith, whether it’s due to the fear of the unknown or a fear of failure,” OUDi says.

That’s exactly where her head was at when she came up with the number (with help from co-writers Jennifer Kennard and Danielle Blakey). The collapse of Sons of Daughters had taken its toll on her confidence, to the point where she felt “paralyzed” with terror: “I wasn’t sure I could do start another music project from the ground up again,” she says. That’s notwithstanding the safety net of once again working with Ogilvie, for whom she had sung in the pop-industrial project Jakalope before Nashville came a-calling.

On an even more intimate level to which just about any listener can relate, while she was striking out on her own professionally, her personal life was a huge, flashing question mark as well.

“I had gone through so much heartbreak that I started to think that love wasn’t for me.”

Whatever does or doesn’t happen for her on the relationship front, the roll of the dice she made in her artistic career is already reaping big rewards. Her January 2024 debut single, the equally distraught industrial ballad “My Old Friend,” saw her reconnecting triumphantly with mechanistic melodrama, and went on to garner thousands of streams. Meanwhile, the accompanying music video she herself directed racked up over 30,000 views, establishing her as a creative force to be reckoned with behind the mic and the camera.

In a further harbinger of good things ahead, she’s recently signed with Bailer Music Publishing, a multinational outfit with headquarters in both Nashville and Germany. Their partnership signals a promising future for OUDi as she continues to develop her sound and expand her artistic reach.

None of which means, of course, that she’s suddenly going to become a mountain of confidence whose songs will rival Whitney Houston’s for self-assured moxie. She’s gone all-in on honest vulnerability, and a whole new audience has clearly embraced the approach. To put it another way, this flight is already out over the waters, and there’s no way to turn back now. Fortunately, there’s no reason to either.

itsmeoudi.com

Reviews
Album
OUDi
Month: May 2023
Chin Injeti Alternative R&B Super Producer/Artist Chin Injeti Celebrates Love In…
Fiona Ross UK Jazz Artist Fiona Ross Captures the Bustle, Profundity and Glamour of the…
Gideon Foster UK-Emerging Singer Songwriter Gideon Foster Releases “Affirmation” New…
Henry Lees Toronto Singer-Songwriter Henry Lees Unlocks a Summer Peace and Love Party…
King Gabriel Trinidad-born Healer King Gabriel Quincy Collymore Uplifts In New "…
Nameless Friends Nameless Friends Rocks Hard With “Need” On Climate Change And Economic Inequality…
Mikalyn Canadian Alt.Pop/EDM Rising Star Mikalyn Releases “Never Mine”
Sinematic Indigenous Rock Artist Sinematic Battles Inner Turmoil In "War With Myself"
The Goodstock Project UK-Based Rock Group The Goodstock Project Sings The Blues In New Single "This Rain…
L-R Ken Grant, Ken Tizzard, Neil Lucy Ken Tizzard Releases new single "Drunk, Stoned and Broke"
MDMP MDMP's New Single 'Fire' Blazes With Collaboration Featuring…
Mudmen Longstanding Celtic-Rockers The Mudmen Celebrate A Strong Work Ethic on Toe-…
MELØ MELØ Releases New Single “Let Love In”
Pilc Moutin Hoenig Jazz Supergroup Pilc Moutin Hoenig Release Stunning ‘YOU Are the Song’ Album
Silka Weil Montreal-Based Folk/Dark Pop Singer Songwriter Silka Weil Releases “Time”

Pagination

  • First page « First
  • Previous page ‹ Previous
  • …
  • Page 94
  • Page 95
  • Page 96
  • Page 97
  • Current page 98
  • Page 99
  • Page 100
  • Page 101
  • Page 102
  • …
  • Next page Next ›
  • Last page Last »

CEO/PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEF
SANDY GRAHAM

email:sandygrahamemg@gmail.com 

Canadian Journalists:

Contributing Journalist - Canada and Global
Don Graham
email: dongrahamwriter@gmail.com

Contributing Journalist - Canada and Global
Lisa Hartt
email: lisahartt87@hotmail.com

Contributing Journalist - Canada 
Michael Williams
email: greydread@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

International Journalists:

Contributing Journalist - Sweden
Malin Osth
email: malin@musicdays.se

Contributing Journalist - Sweden
Jonas Tancred
email: jonas@musicdays.se

Contributing Journalist - USA
Rob Durkee 
email: rockster2746@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Web Developer/Technical Support
Chris Wardman

email: info@chriswardman.com
website: chriswardman.com

Cashbox Cover Design and Graphic Artist
Jain McMillan

email: jainmcmillan@gmail.com

Contributing Photographer 
Tracey Savein - South Paw Productions
southpawproductions@rogers.com

 

 

 

Footer menu

  • Home
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Cashbox Archive
  • Issue Archive
  • Past Covers