“I can’t stand this yearning feeling / I get homesick for a place I’ve never been.” So sings Jeannette Berman on Little Oso‘s new single ‘Simulation Games’, a song which directly grapples with our strange digital present and the ways in which reality has been complicated by the rise of machines. The title track of a new full-length set for release in late spring/early summer 2027 via Repeating Cloud and Safe Suburban Home, the single takes inspiration from Berman’s experiences as a nanny in southern Maine. More specifically, her compulsive playing of The Sims as a means of escaping the mundane realities of existence. “Everybody, every day, has a sneaky way to play,” as the opening verses goes, “in the basement, locked away, playing simulation games / I am daydreaming, it’s not fair, I’ve broken all my get rich plans.”
Alongside core members Berman (vocals), Ricky Lorenzo (guitar), Dana Guth (bass) and DJ Nelson (drums/samples), the new album welcomes Daniel Juergens into the Little Oso fold, bolstering the sound with synthesizer and samplers, as well as viola and violin by Elisabeth Fuchsia. Juergens also recorded and mixed the release, with Andy Tyler Clarke (Spirit of the Beehive, Cloud Nothings) mastering, and the result is by far the richest and most complex the project has sounded to date. But more than a mere stylistic evolution for the band, this development is inherently tied to their thematic interests too. We live in a world where the line between physical and digital existence is porous, machine learning is thrust upon us, and perhaps most strikingly, we’re surrounded by things we could never truly make our own no matter what the tech overlords might claim. Such heady themes require a careful balance of intricacy, fury and good old fashioned human feeling, and Little Oso 2.0 appear ready to meet the moment.
I don’t need much, I just need this
(A place I’ve never been)
Will someone please give me the cheat code to
(A place I’ve never been)
The song comes complete with a video to further the themes, directed and written by Jeannette Berman with director of photography Dean Luis Chuquimongo and editor/colorist Ricardo Lorenzo, and featuring 3D Animator by Haven.
Simulation Games will be released via Repeating Cloud and Safe Suburban Home in late spring/early summer 2027. The single is available now from Bandcamp.