Miss Olivia & Interlopers EP Review: What You Didn’t Know You Needed

Jazz and lounge-style music has become re-popularized in the mainstream. This is in no small part thanks to Tony Bennett and his recent collaborations with Lady Gaga and Diana Krall with “Cheek to Cheek” and Love is “Here to Stay” respectively. The genre also offers a sound like no other, an air of relaxing sophistication that isn’t found in the Pop or Hip Hop today. This makes it an excellent alternative to the more upbeat and party-hardy sounds we hear on the radio. That being said, Miss Olivia & Interlopers have come out of the woodwork with one electrifying EP.

Leaving You Behind is a track with a vibe of new beginnings. One that puts Miss Olivia’s powerful church-born vocals front and center. The instrumentals are also nothing to ignore, as their greatest asset is being the perfect backup to her proclamations of how she’s “not gonna cry no more” and is “leaving you behind.” Also detailing her heartbreak felt learning about how “there is no shame in lover’s game.” The instrumentals speak to the band in a profound way, as the bass and percussion is hard to ignore yet subtle. They never overpower or even come close to the commanding vocals of Miss Olivia. Blacklisted is a different turn with an electrifying twist. The track eases you in with a smooth jazz aesthetic before unleashing the alt rock chorus. Lyrically it tells of a woman who while during the chorus matches the hard rock aesthetic with “an alien, or is she a spy don’t matter to me, don’t look her in the eye.” While the jazz bridges catalog another side, detailing how she is “always walkin’ round so de-stressed.” It gives the track a unique day and night aesthetic that comes together at the end in a great way.

Jazz and lounge-style music have become repopularized in no small part to Tony Bennett and his recent collaborations with Lady Gaga and Diana Krall with “Cheek to Cheek” and Love is “Here to Stay” respectively. The genre also offers a sound like no other, an air of relaxing sophistication that isn’t found in the Pop or Hip Hop mainstream today. This makes it an excellent alternative to the more upbeat and party-hardy sounds we hear on the radio today. That being said, Miss Olivia & Interlopers have come out of the woodwork with one electrifying EP. 

Leaving You Behind is a track with a vibe of new beginnings. One that puts Miss Olivia’s powerful church-born vocals front and center. The instrumentals are also nothing to ignore, as their greatest asset is being the perfect backup to her proclamations of how she’s “not gonna cry no more” and is “leaving you behind.” Also detailing her heartbreak felt learning about how “there is no shame in lover’s game.” The instrumentals speak to the band in a profound way, as the bass and percussion is hard to ignore yet subtle. They never overpower or even come close to the commanding vocals of Miss Olivia. Blacklisted is a different turn with an electrifying twist. The track eases you in with a smooth jazz aesthetic before unleashing the alt-rock chorus. Lyrically it tells of a woman who while during the chorus matches the hard rock aesthetic with “an alien, or is she a spy don’t matter to me, don’t look her in the eye.” While the jazz bridges catalog another side, detailing how she is “always walkin’ round so de-stressed.” It gives the track a unique day and night aesthetic that comes together at the end in a great way.

Miss Olivia & Interlopers have a great mix of innovation and tradition in this EP. The two tracks are so different and unique that you may find it challenging to only listen to them once. The aesthetic offers a fantastic feeling of being introduced in the first track then finding their own sound during the second. It makes for a great twist on a currently popular genre, marrying the two aesthetics into a very modern sound.