To Octavia – Somewhere In A World, Not Of The Dream (EP Review)

Posted on July 16, 2021 by Cait Mac

To Octavia – Somewhere In A World, Not Of The Dream
Released: July 16th, 2021

Line-Up:

Merry Kirk-Holmes // Vocals
Molly Congreve // Guitar
Justin Keurntjes // Guitar
Lucas Keurntjes // Drums

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Well, the shit has undoubtedly hit the fan here again in Australia — let’s escape that for a bit though and talk about something that’s as opposite as shit as you can get. Melbourne’s To Octavia and their new EP Somewhere In A World, Not Of The Dream.

‘Fall Into The Sun’ starts the EP off in a bouncy way with fun drum beats and a super groovy bass line. Vocalist Merry Kirk-Holmes shows their vocal range straight away, starting nice and low, bursting into fantastic screams quickly and then into a soaring chorus.

Next up is ‘The Sound of the Rain’, yet another bouncy banger with fun electronic beats. This song will be great to see crowds rocking out to when we can finally get back to live shows. ‘Edge of the Universe’ is a little darker and slower than the first two songs, but so far is my favourite on the EP, with ‘Fall Into the Sun‘ a close second. The screams in it are brutal, and then there is a beautiful slowed down section with gorgeous vocals and poignant lyrics.

‘Unknown Worlds’ is next, and it’s a furious song from the outset, starting with a fantastic guitar riff. Merry’s vocals are rougher, and the screams are more guttural in this song which suits it well. The guitars from Molly Congreve and Justin Keurntjes chug along throughout and have a more old school metal feel, which is cool.

The latest single, ‘COCO MOJO’, is up next and honestly, what a great song. The song is about love during lockdown and trying to stay positive during 2020 — which I guess now can be extended to 2021 — this is a song we need at the moment. It’s fun and makes you want to dance and rock out. The band has said they rejected genres for this EP and just chucked in whatever sounded good, and ‘COCO MOJO’ is an excellent example of that working very well. There are fantastic electronic sounds, Merry’s vocals hit incredible highs and guttural lows, there’s an awesome guitar solo from Justin and Lucas Keurntjes’ drums are relentless throughout.

Finishing out the album is ‘Sleep’, which is yet another genre-bending banger. This song is slinky, sexy and a great way to finish off a great EP.

There’s not much more to say about this EP — give it a listen, and you’ll hear why it’s an incredibly solid release from a band that are definitely on their way to the meteoric rise they deserve. Pop this in your earholes, and it’ll quickly make you forget the state of the world.