OHMS RELEASES WHIMSICAL NEW SINGLE ‘BIMBO’S INFERNO’
A fantastical journey welding art rock, progressive rock, synth pop and more, the brand new single Bimbo’s Inferno out today from boundless Melbourne creative Ohms is an intricate and unpredictable ride that marks a first single ahead of a, yet to be announced, full length album.
Peeling layers of oscillating genres and foreboding yet playful theatricality, Bimbo’s Inferno also dazzles with starry-eyed melodics interplaying between sudden sinister stylistic shifts. A pop song at its core immersed in woozy vocals and intergalactic instrumentation, Bimbo’s Inferno never wholeheartedly commits to any one genre for long, instead finding Ohms, aka Melbourne artist Hugo Ivers, exploring inspiration from a galaxy of sonic corners, including R. Stevie Moore, MGMT, XTC, The Cleaners From Venus and the early works of of Montreal. “I think I was just so attracted to the intricacies, both subtle and glaring in all their respective works, it made me think to myself “hey, great music doesn’t have to follow a particular formula if I don’t want it to!”. It excited me deeply to think that I could try my hand at composing something simultaneously pop-centric, and completely unconventional.”
With instrumentation performed dominantly by Ohms himself, who also took on the producer’s role, Bimbo’s Inferno also brought together additional instrumentation recorded by Timothy Dunn, drums recorded by Stu McKenzie, mixing by Ohms and Andrew Robinson at Rolling Stock Studios, and mastering by Mikey Young. And amid the long journey to finally releasing his new single, Ohms drew inspiration from his surrounds in Melbourne, conjuring an unsettling personal nightlife experience into musical form via Bimbo’s Inferno. “It’s not really inspired by anyone, but rather just a tongue-in-cheek pop song about my ineptitude to engage in Melbourne nightlife,” shares Ohms. “I was, and still am, somewhat of a creature of habit, finding more comfort in working on projects by myself into the wee hours, rather than hitting up various pubs and clubs. I remember a rare occurrence years ago where I emerged for a night out with friends, feeling like a fish out of water as we traversed the streets of the inner northern suburbs. I always had some strange, foreboding sense of paranoia once the sun died out and entered the evening. Anyway, the following day I read an article about the same bar we drank at burning down that very night. Suffice to say I didn’t head out on the town for a number of months following that.”
Drawing the Ohms creative name from studies in audio engineering and the necessity of the project’s namesake in the recoding and production process, Ivers’ grew up immersing himself in a vast tapestry of music from his parents’ extensive record collection, spanning 80s soul, 70s progressive rock, 60s folk and 20th-century classical music in his early childhood. Finding fascination in imagery conjured by certain music in his youth, Ivers also inevitably found himself drawn to “an overwhelming attachment to the romanticism of being a ‘musician’ from a very young age”. A multi-instrumentalist, seeking to experiment and understand each instrument intuitively, Ivers evolved into working to reverse-engineer melodies and sounds emanating from his creative consciousness; a process that would blossom with organic magnetic results. “I liken it to Brian Eno’s approach of replacing the element of skill with the element of judgment,” says Ohms. “If it works in my mind, I will seek out what I am hearing internally, in spite of whether I am technically proficient enough to achieve it.”
With Bimbo’s Inferno marking the first step towards a planned upcoming full length album, Ohms is set to entice listeners deeper and deeper into his creative soul; and it’s a journey that has kickstarted with an unforgettable bang. “Unpredictability, intricacy, and colour are elements I’ve always strived for when creating music, and Bimbo’s Inferno exemplifies this effort,” Ohms concludes. “Duality in my music is very important to me, and because of this, I’ve never truly known how on earth to present my music, whether there is even an audience for it. Ultimately, creative pursuits are a deeply personal effort, so the only audience in mind has always been myself. But, naturally, I hope that the madcap, warped pop song that Bimbo’s Inferno is crawls its way into the hearts and ears of those who appreciate its absurdity.”
Bimbo’s Inferno is out now.