Youth Maze: Boe Oakner’s Praha.EP And (Jesus Has Given And) XXX EP

Boe Oakner is a 17 year old from Nagano Prefecture, and in the span of three months she has already released two EPs of vastly different sonic styles. The pair – August’s Praha. and this month’s Ano(t)raks-supported (Jesus Has Given And) XXX – are testaments to the confusions of the late teenage years, that awkward period many kids begin figuring out just who they are (usually with the threat of high school graduation thick in the air). For Boe Oakner, her search for identity plays out over two excellent albeit completely different EPs. Praha. passed us by when it emerged online back in the summer, but I am not sure Make Believe Melodies would have written about it without knowing where Oakner would go in the future – it is a completely ambient album, where the closest thing to percussion comes courtesy of the sound of dripping water. Liquid sounds are vital to this collection, the title track featuring the persistent sound of what sounds like a bath tub draining to the aforementioned drip-drops of “Luminere,” which delivers on the title by also incorporating the sound of film reel. Yet the other two songs here aren’t big on natural sound – they are guided by piano and twinkling electronics (“Mariene”) and cinematic strings (the stunning “Lavrentij,” which sounds like a lullaby at first but blossoms into something powerful). Get it here, or listen below.

The newly released XXX is a departure – it’s the sound of Oakner herself coming into frame and, just as importantly, having fun. The musical tricks introduced on Praha. remian – “Waterfloat” is a minimal track centered around more water dripping. Yet now she’s singing, and she’s creating multiple tracks of her vocals, to create the effect of a chors of Oakners singing over the kitchen-faucet sounds. And then she turns the whole thing sweet with violins. “Cherenkov” is a lonely little waltz once again exploring what she can do with her voice and recording software, the most delicate and sweet song here. And it closes with a version of “Praha” now featuring her voice. She sings about Jesus — and seemingly losing faith in him (or it’s a metaphor for love…) — and then in a swerve, breaks into rap to declare “yo, check it out ya’ll/this is hip-hop yo.” It is a playful interlude that shakes up an otherwise contemplative number…the sort of wild detail one hopes youth can provide. Get it here or listen below.