Rubber Oh - Soil

Rubber Oh (Sam Grant) has returned with weirded-out psych project Rubber Oh and the bold new album ‘SOIL’ released on the Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, collective imprint, Mr Medicine Records.

Including collaborations from Bristol’s Rozi Plain, London based Voka Gentle, and Newcastle artists Me Lost Me & Ceitidh Mac, the sophomore record offers a vivid journey through Grant’s otherworldly machinations.

‘SOIL’ picked up where 2021’s debut ‘Strange Craft’ left off, presenting kaleidoscopic melodies floating above dense rhythms. It skirts a line between dark heavy riff and floating harmony. However, where the acclaimed ‘Strange Craft’ was a focussed, at times minimal affair, ‘SOIL’ looks to break out into a vast filmic landscape. It is a record with a new found confidence in what Rubber Oh is, both thematically and sonically.

A major feature of this record is the arrangements Grant composed throughout for both choir and strings. There is imposed friction; the push and pull between the levity and delicacy of these voices and strings, rubbing up against the grit and distortion of the driving rhythm section - the music is once again built around Grant’s fuzzed-out, hard-panned basses.

The unusual marriage of instrumentation here though creates an intriguing sonic space that feels both familiar and new at the same time.