Seattle-based electronic duo Odesza have released a brand new tune entitled “Wide Awake” featuring Charlie Houston from their forthcoming and highly anticipated new record The Last Goodbye, which is scheduled for release on the 22nd of July via Foreign Family Collective/Ninja Tune. You can pre-order the record here, and you can listen to the new track down below.
Commencing with Houston’s solo vocal, the chilled out track soon gains some gliding momentum with the introduction of thudding percussion and wide open, shimmering ambient soundscapes, a musical trait that Odesza have perfected over the course of their career.
Speaking on the new track, according to a press release, Odesza stated: “What we like about ‘Wide Awake’ is it feels like it encapsulates a lot of things we enjoy into one track: lots of percussive elements wrapped in emotive chords, with swirling distorted synths and leads, all centered around Charlie’s incredible vocal. It’s one of our favourites from the record and something we come back to a lot.”
The forthcoming album The Last Goodbye is set to be the duo’s most ambitious album to date. A project rife with brightness and emotion, it serves as a sweeping sonic experience that speaks to themes of connection, reminiscence, and the impact we have on one another.
Pre-release tracks showcase the depth of the album, with the title track ‘The Last Goodbye’ (feat. Bettye LaVette) being praised by the New York Times who said it “brings some Slavic melancholy to four-on-the-floor dance music” while other songs ‘Love Letter’ (feat. The Knocks) features a dynamic, emotive vocal refrain that serves as a personal proclamation, speeding amongst curtains of orchestral synths. The mesmerising ‘Behind The Sun’ includes a beautiful vocal sample from Iranian singer Simin Ghanem’s ‘Seeb’, and ‘Better Now’ (feat. MARO) features delicately balanced ambient soundscapes and instrumentation.
In other news regarding Odesza, the band will be partnering with environmental nonprofit and music industry veterans REVERB to make their tour more environmentally sustainable and to engage fans to take action for people and the planet. Not only will the tour be carbon negative, eliminating substantially more greenhouse gas pollution than the tour creates, there will also be activations at each show to encourage fans to get involved to take action against climate change.
