OK SWEETHEART

OK SWEETHEART’s new release Some Space is a sweet-sounding vicious ‘kiss off’ album crafted by Erin Austin and her intuitive players. The album is a rich collection of organic soul-pop sounds in the vein of an updated version of 'Dusty in Memphis.' There are a honeycomb of hooks in each chorus and verses that navigate listeners through a storyline as classic as 70s singer/songwriter LPs.

The the album will be released in three parts: Some Space — Part One came out December 18th, featuring “Some Space,” “Pranks,” and “Let It Go”; Some Space — Part Two will be released on January 18th, 2019, with “We Can Do It” and “Simple”; and Some Space, in its entirety, will be out February 8th, 2019.

The much-anticipated sophomore LP Some Space will be worth the wait since Austin’s debut album Home in 2011. In the fall of 2018, she breathed smoldering smoky life into these 11 new glowing songs.

After the release of Home, Austin relentlessly toured, wrote music and expanded her base of collaborators. Austin recorded a number of songs in 2016 and 2017 from which she picked five to make up the physical EP Far Away. In early 2018, OK SWEETHEART played its first European tour, promoting Far Away by performing 27 shows in a little over one month in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Upon returning to the US, Austin and her OK SWEETHEART bandmates went into the studio to record six songs in a single day to expand Far Away into the entire album Some Space. The intensive session bore “Have It All,” the sarcastic commentary on capitalism and the meaning of live, “Let It Go,” the plea to heal a relationship and move on, the manic mental illness and addiction struggles of “Time of our Lives,” “See What I See,” the tenderly healing “Simple,” and the absolute crushing closer title track, “Some Space.”

After the release of debut album Home, with its upbeat and catchy title track, it may be a surprise that the song “Some Space” feels like jumping off a painfully reflective emotional cliff. It is hauntingly relatable; its sarcasm infused lyrical truth is compounded by the accompanied piano melody and haunting horns. It will stop you in your tracks and cause you to think of all the times you needed space or needed to give it.

Most of Some Space was recorded with Andy Park at Studio X in Seattle, known for working with Dave Bazan, Noah Gundersen, Ruler and other distinctive singer/songwriters, over the past two years. “Raging Flame,” another illuminating track, is one of a three songs that were produced by Ryan Hadlock (Brandi Carlile, The Gossip, The Lumineers) in 2016 at Bear Creek in Woodinville, Washington along with “Pranks” and “I’m Not Losing It.”

“Pranks”, “Raging Flame”, “We Can Do It”, “Far Away” and “I’m Not Losing It”, which comprised the EP Far Away, all grapple with the struggle to make meaningful art, build meaningful relationships and get to the far off goal of being okay without losing your mind or body in the process.

Austin’s own journey began on small family farm in a Central New York town, where she studied piano and classical voice, expanded to Oklahoma — which she’d later honor by naming her project OK SWEETHEART — then to San Francisco, where her musical influences helped hone her songwriting. While on the West Coast, she took a break from her classical career and began an in-depth study of her greatest songwriting influencers, The Beatles. Soon after, Austin went to Denton, TX to record the album Home. When the first song “You Let Me Down” was nearly finished, she entered it into the International John Lennon Songwriting Contest and won for the Pop genre. In her pursuit of broadening her musical palette, she began listening to Harry Nilsson, Neil Young, and Randy Newman — artists who like herself, meld universal yet subversive lyrical ideas with pure melodies and impeccable songwriting. Now residing in the Pacific Northwest, she has made Seattle her home and feels the most at home she’s felt since she left the farm.

In addition to OK SWEETHEART, Austin is part of Seattle supergroup, LADIES, with Lydia Ramsey and Miranda Zickler (Kuinka). LADIES released three winter holiday songs in November 2018 and the track “Ladies, It’s Cold Outside” was included in the Apple Music ‘Holiday Pop Hits’ Playlist, resulting in over 500K streams. She also recorded an EP with LA-based electronic soul-pop duo LETS, which is scheduled to release music in 2019.

OK SWEETHEART leaves for their second European tour after the Valentine’s Day album release show at Neumos in Seattle, WA. The tour will continue through mid-April and carries a new oeuvre of beloved and engaging songs that will never let her, or us, feel alone again.