ITMOI

First time I heard this I was left speechless. The depth and beautiful glitchiness of Otomola's "ITMOI" felt overwhelmingly beautiful and I wasn't even sure how to describe it. Omotola is a Los Angeles-based artist whose deep, ethereal vocals bring to mind influences like Florence + the Machine and POLIÇA. Something you can pick up very quickly after hitting the play button. Raised on R&B, pop, and Nigerian music, she sang in choirs for over a decade and describes having an eclectic palate that is guided by a sense of nostalgia as much as a yearning to discover new sounds. 

Besides the staggering performance, what makes this release even more special is the fact that she works with the new label of Nik Ewings (local natives) called Chewing Inc and the fact that "ITMOI" is mixed by Brian Joseph who has worked with Bon Iver and Sufjan Stevens.

Omotola shares, "There’s a certain heaviness to the song, but then again it’s forward-moving and chantlike in the verses… there’s a sort of therapy to it. You might call it a love song or a song of acceptance depending on how you feel that night. "ITMOI" kinda wrote itself standing in the kitchen of my parent's house. You can actually hear the grandfather clock chime in the song. It came from a darker period of time that produced really lovely fruit, which I'm grateful for.".

Listening to this gives me goosebumps and it sparkles the love for music yet one more time. I imagine listening to this in a giant concert hall where her vocals absolutely overtake the whole space.