Ohly is the recording moniker of Detroit-based Christian Ohly, a songwriter who writes alone with his acoustic guitar and then invites friends and collaborators to flesh out the sound. A self-titled EP released back in 2017 established this, a rich and heartfelt brand of folk rock that managed to pair intimate emotion with cathartic energy. Therefore, despite the personal origins of each song, the takeaway feeling of the EP was that of a more general hope, even the most morose of the tracks underpinned by a sense of brightness that nudged the mood towards an affirming appreciation of things.
This year will see Ohly return with a brand new album. In preparation, the single ‘University’ has been released. Picking up from the Ohly EP, the track is every bit as vivid as its predecessors, starting out with a simple strummed guitar and background shimmer but soon achieving a new depth as drums enter the frame. However, it is Ohly’s vocals that remain centre-stage, every other element working to support his distinctive delivery and elevate its impressively verbose flow.
Because where the song really stands apart is in the lyricism. The first EP suggested a narrative element to his writing, but ‘University’ truly grounds Ohly as storyteller, conjuring a detailed picture of a time spent in college. Themes of post-collegiate gratitude, sadness and fear run through much of contemporary music, and it is easy to fall into easy rhythms or cliches, but Ohly stands apart in his sheer eye for detail, snapshots of his time in university presented in something approaching a stream of consciousness. Lines and verses spill into one another as he recalls the minutiae of recent years, all moving with an intuitive momentum that grows into something not only recognisable but emotive too—as though in the collected moments of one’s life lies something moving and profound.
‘University’ is out now and available from the Ohly Bandcamp page.