Yeehaw cowboys! I heartily approve of the expertlassoing that's been a-going on in these here parts - everything roped together in a few handy parcels. Round 'em up, Olga!
That said, I couldn't let slide one wee nugget that got buried in the bunch. Did you spot it? Did you see? Go, quick, have a look. There was something special hiding in the undergrowth. Our very own Olga-lady sings, and the awfully lovely people at TeamGenius put moving pictures to it. It's something special, so if you haven't already, go check it out in the handy YouTube magic box above.
Writing about Olga's music is brilliant and wonderful and quite impossible, because I like it far too much. We were walking down the street in London one day, and a friend asked me to describe it. I was bereft of words. 'It's got music in,' I said, desperately. I looked at Olga. She was grinning at me. 'And - and melodies?' I was hopeless.
Olga's music renders me wordless, because I walk through her words instead. There was a week when I wore 'Feeling Fine' like a cloak, holding it close to my skin, a covering I couldn't give to myself and so borrowed in her song instead. I sang it like a mantra, over and over and over. It belonged to me, in a way my heart understood but my head was blind to. I sang to wear it through, to wear it thin enough to see through again. I sang it to release it.
A Dream of Gardens was the very first song Olga ever sent me, and its video deserves its own post. It's a three-way collaboration, really - Olga's vocals, lyrics by Neil Gaiman, and another layer of visual narrative by TeamGenius. The three intertwine, and a creature of aching, desolate beauty comes forth. Watch it, and if it lodges in your chest like it did mine, just remember it can be summoned forth again. You just might need to sing it to release it.
A voice that strokes the soul... let there be more... :)