Image: Joshua Wotton.
New Zealand producer and vocalist Oliver Totty has unveiled the first taste of his genre-defying debut album, King Of My Room. Produced, mixed, and mastered by Totty himself, $SD, the musician creates a glitchy, apocalyptic soundscape, built upon dreamy pads and hard-hitting four to the floor bass lines.
Conceptually, $SD navigates themes of self-love and self-loathing, reflecting on a past relationship and the lingering emotions of self-destruction post breakup. The track came to be during the COVID-19 pandemic, after the musician reconnected with a previous lover, quickly recalling why they had fallen apart. Totty's eerie and distinct vocals mesmerise throughout the track, with threads of EDM, alt-rock and pop-R&B woven throughout the songs captivating soundscape.
Totty's debut album King Of My Room fuses together the musicians multi-genre influences, with the singer creating a "project that people could take the bits they liked and find their own pleasure and meaning within them". The albums overall arching theme is that of alone time and introspection, reflecting on the musicians feelings of sanction when he finds himself alone in his room.
The 25-year-old began producing beats the day after hearing Travis Scott’s Days Before Rodeo for the first time. Having played the drums from an early age, Totty found the percussive elements on the track to be revolutionary, serving as an influence on the way he programs his drums to this day. In recent times he has transitioned from producing hip-hop rooted records to the likes of EDM, Indie Rock, Pop R&B, and everything in between. Taking inspiration from the likes of Dominic Fike and Jean Dawson, Totty hopes to thread together his differing musical passions into one succinct body of work.
$SD is out now! Listen to the track below.