Introducing Olivesque, the project of 23-year-old North Yorkshire-raised Olive Rees, with her new single ‘Death.’ Known also for her work in Manchester-based three piece Nightbus, Olivesque sees Rees establish her presence as a multifaceted musician and producer, distilling her deeper self-analysis whilst creating space for the expression of her queer identity.
New single ‘Death’ arrives as a fitting prelude for Olivesque – an encapsulation of darkness, romance and wit which conjures an early insight into her artistic essence and beckons listeners to delve into her inner world.
Put simply as “a bedroom indie song about death,” Olivesque’s new track effortlessly juxtaposes ethereal vocals and intricate guitar tones with lyricism that weaves humour into darkness; ‘If death doesn’t come quick enough / would you fly from hell to come pick me up?.’ Delving beneath the surface, she shares; “This was written in peak lockdown and I feel like lyrically I was taking the piss out of my situation in a very romantic but dark way. It started out as a bassline that I had written in my first year of university and labelled ‘Wolf Alice bassline.’ Fast-forward to March 2020 I had begun demoing my own songs on Garage-band – mostly as a coping mechanism during the pandemic. The lyrics are very reflective of that period and my mindset towards it. There’s something about darkness and melancholy that I really enjoy – rather than finding its depth intimidating, I find it a beautiful thing to sit with and there was a lot of that during the pandemic. There’s a sinister comedic twist to the narrative that is essentially saying take me to hell because it can’t be any worse than this reality. What’s ironic is that summer was actually the best summer of my entire life.”