British-Finnish newcomer otta imbues her DIY spirit into “small hours”

Experimenting with a variety of sounds has never looked so slick as otta’s soulful vocal dances over a beautiful cacophony of instruments. Contrasting to this is the stark vulnerability in her lyrics. Lines such as “In these small hours I found that we might still love each other so” and the poetic repetition in switching between “baby” and “scumbag” heavily display the heart-breaking sentiment of the song, which comes pouring through the intermittent cracks of the music.

The new track, along with all of those on her forthcoming EP, were written, recorded, produced, engineered and performed by otta herself, with additional production and mixing by Warp Records producer Kwes, who previously worked with Solange Knowles, Loyle Carner, The xx, Damon Albarn and Tirzah.

For otta, the process of creating the EP was about the prospect of tackling hard obstacles before she's even started. As otta explains, it “was about me picturing what it would be like on the other side of this big pile of emotions and situations I was trying to deal with at the time - whilst also knowing I was going to have to go through them all first to even get to that place”. She continues: “Journey-wise, it’s been a lot about working hard on things, but also learning to let go and move on, and letting people help.”

Speaking about the EP as a whole, otta says, “I think the songs on this project were very much inspired by classic songwriting, I was listening to a lot of old pop music at the time as well as experimenting with electronic ambient music. This project was a product of finding a way to write structure into this in a way which feels natural whilst also sounding very much like a work in progress. I have always been very inspired by the production of Herbert, Dean Blunt and JPEGMAFIA, which sounds kind of chaotic in the best way whilst also feeling really natural.”

Through her intense creativity and her keen eye for melody and songwriting, otta delivers a track that's simply delightful: a wonderful predecessor of what’s to come and a perfect case study of a one to watch in 2020.