NEW YORK, NY- There’s a plethora of pop princesses making waves in music today, but OSTON sets herself apart by taking inspiration from contemporaries and fusing it with a simple, soulful sound. The result? An EP full of silky pop hooks and even more delicious potential.
The “Sitting At The Kids Table” EP starts off with the bouncy “bad,” plucky with its bassline and even more perky in its catchy, repetitive chorus. It’s a fun opener to an eclectic debut, soulful at its core with light pop sensibilities to make it sparkle.
OSTON, aka Austin Wolfe, originally hails from Park City, Utah and was a top 30 finalist on the 13th season of “American Idol.” After studying Music Business at Columbia College Chicago, Wolfe and her phonic-based alter ego recently made their way to a new hub: Los Angeles.
The silky, backbeat-based songs on the EP reflect a mixture of her sonic heritage: honest lyrics about love and growing up, stemming from her roots; rich beats that frequent popular music; and that extra “oomph,” an airy yet grounded vocal prowess that allows the sound to meld into something unique – think Maggie Rogers meets Sabrina Carpenter.
An example of this is the vibey “last time” – an acoustic beginning gives way to a simple beat that gradually adds layers, topped with echoing vocals to draw it all together. Lyrics about “loving you for the last time” could easily be crooned by any contemporary, but OSTON’s softly soulful vocal abilities give it an extra push beyond those boundaries into something that feels more real.
Other tracks like “give up” and “leading me on” are fun in their own right, mixing studio beats with acoustic sensibilities to make it softer and more tangible. OSTON doesn’t let the backing tracks completely guide her songs – the little touches of personality, like acoustic intros that keep going throughout the song (“nobody cares”) make that “beat drop” moment somehow more satisfying. You can tell she thought about those moments – because it shows. It sounds.
The future is bright for OSTON. With this blend of pop, she could rise to the likes of her contemporaries – maybe even higher.
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