Olympia: Flamingo Review
Flamingo is the sophomore album from Melbourne musician, Olympia. As a follow up to her debut, Olympia’s 11 track album showcases her role as an explorer of uncharted musical territory. Alongside longtime collaborator Burke Reid, Olympia has magnified the lens on bridging together anguish and recovering from significant loss.
Described as an album that “explores the idea of trying to hold hope and hopelessness together,” the singer expresses she “tried to borrow from my own grief to create its inverse: something new; a territorial hope affair – a love letter from the living”.
Flamingo is the uniquely crafted architecture Olympia is effortlessly able to present to listeners. Filled with versatility, Flamingo translates the darker moments of Olympia’s suffering and heartbreak onto ‘Won’t Say That’, yet burrows through the intrinsically tougher times to produce tracks that ooze all sorts of confidence and desire.
Arrangements of pounding drums, ethereal and triumphant vocals, alongside bold, vivacious guitars are the perfect antithesis to Olympia’s angst, heightening the message of hope she aims to permeate through the body of work.
Olympia’s Flamingo is a breakthrough in tackling and digesting the impact of grief. Layered with moments of introspection on the afflictions from heartbreak, Olympia equally explores the antagonist to heartbreak. Her punk-edge and melodically strong flow displays the contrasting notion of the silver lining that comes further along the road.
Flamingo unearths the twists and turns that make up grief and despair. With her universal lyricism and diverse arrangements, Olympia finds a way to navigate through pain, and centre it into a complex emotion that should be seen as collectively with hopefulness and confidence.
Fri 4 Oct – Anglesea Memorial Hall, Anglesea, VIC, AU
Sat 5 Oct – Corner Hotel, Melbourne, AU *
Fri 11 Oct – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney, AU *
Fri 25 Oct – Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane, AU **
* Supported by Jess Ribeiro & Merpire
** Supported by Emerson Snowe & Merpire