Live Review: Chill out with 'Charlene' on Oliver Tank's latest single + tour dates

24 March 2017 | 1:07 pm | Lloyd Crackett

Oliver Tank's 'Charlene' is a slice of minimalist pop that's cool, calm and hype-inducing as it heralds not only a debut album but a national headline tour.

OLIVER TANK’s latest release ‘Charlene’ comes with a flurry of good news. Firstly, his debut album OT has a release date of April 21. Secondly, his first national headline tour since 2014 is soon to be underway with unannounced but no doubt hotly contested supports and thirdly, well – ‘Charlene’ is a slice of minimalist well-crafted electronic pop that’ll have the hype growing inside of you.

‘Charlene’ no doubt will push forward the Bon Iver comparisons which is an obvious and honestly lazy approach – Oliver Tank isn’t veering into Bon Iver’s lane. There are stark and simple divisions between them. ‘Charlene’ focuses around a very minimal beat, a nuanced use of glitch elements and warped vocals paired with Oliver’s own clear and affected voice. It’s a success in using simple but integral ingredients. Tank’s latest release isn’t fussy or overproduced – its immaculate in utilising a small sample of noises and silence. The comparison between Oliver Tank and Bon Iver exists because they work within the more off-kilter experimental side of electronic pop however they both approach, execute and succeed differently. Oliver Tank isn’t about overwhelming you (so far,) with noises. ‘Charlene’ is minimal, clever and heartfelt. The only true Australian Bon Iver comparison that can be made is that Oliver Tank is Bon Iver if he didn’t show off.

There is something peaceful about ‘Charlene’, the predominant synths of the song flit forward in a sweet melody and all the other elements, the glitches, the absolutely distorted vocals, Oliver’s poignant vocals, intercept this original melody with precision. It’s in these interrupted swells of silence, the melody pottering forward and glitches splicing, that the best comparison comes to mind: Oliver Tank, if anything, is a James Blake type – far more willing to strip back a song, create it as an exact craft and let the meticulous attention speak for itself. Or, maybe we should just all understand that Oliver Tank is Oliver Tank and no one else, and his debut album will teach us that.

Plug into the latest music with our FREE weekly newsletter

Oliver Tank’s debut album OT will be out on April 21st and heralds his first national headline tour in years. Having recently played at Secret Garden Festival, it seems Oliver Tank is back and raring to go again. We can't wait.

TOUR DATES

 Thursday 4th May -  Small Ballroom, Newcastle NSW

Friday 5th May - Wollongong Uni Bar, Wollongong NSW

Saturday 6th May -  Oxford Art Factory, Sydney NSW

Saturday 13th May -  Woolly Mammoth, Brisbane QLD

Friday 19th May - Transit Bar, Canberra ACT

Saturday 20th May - Howler, Melbourne VIC

Friday 26th May - Jive, Adelaide SA

Saturday 27th May - Jack Rabbit Slims, Perth WA

SEE ALSO