{"product_id":"otta-astra","title":"OTTA - ASTRA","description":"\u003cp\u003eBritish-Finnish songwriter otta returns with the details of her new album ASTRA. Out 20th November on otta’s new label löyly, the new record is accompanied by an intimate and abstract new single \/ video titled “MEZZANINE” - an eight-and-a-half-minute introduction to the latest stage in a journey of ambitious and far-reaching musical development.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLess drawing from than wholly dismantling wide stylistic spectrums of music, the dense collages of sound which define otta’s work could be described as a musique concrète approach to contemporary pop. Thematically otta has also always occupied a singular space. Starting her solo career barely out of adolescence, her first single “Near Enough a Woman” already evinces an anxious liminality, one perhaps inherent to early adulthood, but nonetheless appearing particularly striking in her presentation. But if otta’s voice has always been defined by a certain predilection for introspection, the path of her career nonetheless was one equally charted amidst community. Notable contributors have included Warp Record’s kwes. who helped define otta’s first few critically acclaimed EPs, all of which were released on his label BOKKLE. Also, black midi’s Morgan Simpson whose equal parts explosive and intricate percussion style provided a perfect accompaniment to otta’s artistry of extreme contrasts. It is clear then that the elaboration of her voice was not done alone, but rather, amidst a kaleidoscopic cast of complementary creativity. Even ASTRA, a unique entry in otta’s discography for the extent of its self-sufficiency (the entirety of its instrumentation was performed by the artist alone) sees her forging new connections, with Dilip Harris (King Krule, Little Dragon) taking up mixing duties.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eotta’s most recent record, 2025's With Love From Everywhere, could be seen, at least in the initial period of its production, as the culmination of that process. Its hyperkinetic sound, drawing equally from free jazz as it does art pop, appears as much a testament to otta’s discerning curation of musical collaborators as it does the uniqueness of her vision. “MEZZANINE”, the first taste of otta’s new album, solidifies that notion. Stretching to nearly half the runtime of her entire previous album, it traverses an ever more expansive yet indeterminate arc as words dictated directly into her laptop’s inbuilt microphone eschew allegory or any other ornamental excess, resisting neat narrative coherence. Speaking on the single otta says, “it gets a bit abstract, but it’s also pop music… There are multiple narratives occurring - the instrumentation is kind of a whole story in itself. It was really addictive to work on, I played around with it for ages, mainly just because it was so much fun, every sound was something I played and considered right till the very end. It is sort of like a big painting, nothing is just surface level or as it seems, different narratives, textures, magic etc… I just wanted it to feel like you’re in the song when you’re listening to it”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"löyly","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":55029707309379,"sku":"RPT-36877","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":55029707342147,"sku":"RPT-36878","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0821\/1601\/8499\/files\/CAR_20261109_1200_122801_580_p_pdf_link_20261109120133_dup1_037.jpg?v=1794231319","url":"https:\/\/www.recordplant.co.uk\/products\/otta-astra","provider":"Record Plant","version":"1.0","type":"link"}