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: Apr 2022
Modlee Hip Hop Soul-R&B Artist Modlee Reveals SOUL URGE in the Form of Newly Minted…
Shining Bright Amidst All the 80s Vibes, Pop/Soul Artist Nathalie Miranda Wants to Know: “Is This Love” Shining Bright Amidst All the 80s Vibes, Pop/Soul Artist Nathalie Miranda…
Shawn Oates Edmonton's Country Artist Shawn Oates Releases New “Outta This Town” Single
Month: May 2022
Blaze Project Canadian Rockers Blaze Project Crystallize the Conundrum of Passion With…
Country Songstress Bree Taylor Inspires Strength & Self-Love While Overcoming Challenges with New Single, “On My Own” Country Songstress Bree Taylor Inspires Strength & Self-Love While Overcoming…
Katie Ditschun Canadian Jazz Songstress Katie Ditschun Captures A Lonely Sense of…
Shades Lawrence Alt-Rapper Shades Lawrence Fights Colonization With Powerful New Anthem, “No…
Holy Ramen Toronto Pop-Hip Hop Artist Holy Ramen is In Exile
R&B-Soul Singer-Songwriter Jarvis Church Reimagines Bill Withers Classics With A Modern Twist with Release of New Album R&B-Soul Singer-Songwriter Jarvis Church Reimagines Bill Withers…
Pop-Soul Artist Natalie Nicole Gilbert Passionately Reimagines Adele’s “Easy on Me” Pop-Soul Artist Natalie Nicole Gilbert Passionately Reimagines Adele’s “Easy…
Roland Grant Windsor, NS Flamenco & Rock-Instrumental Guitarist Roland Grant’s New…
The Zolas JUNO-Nominated Rockers The Zolas Cover Poppy Family’s “Where Evil Grows” for…
Sylvia Kay Sylvia Kay Pens Nostalgic Ode to Coming of Age in Shimmering New Single, “Legacy”
Kele Fleming Kele Fleming Sings Through Seismic Life Shifts with New 90s-Infused Rock-…
Kayla Divenere - Megan Fox Pop Artist Kayla DiVenere Explores the Frustrations Of Impossible Standards…

Pagination

  • First page « First
  • Previous page ‹ Previous
  • …
  • Page 66
  • Page 67
  • Page 68
  • Page 69
  • Current page 70
  • Page 71
  • Page 72
  • Page 73
  • Page 74
  • …
  • 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