OK Aurora: Hope
After making a splash with their 2021 debut album Only In Autumn, drummer, composer and arranger Rod Oughton’s sparky combo returns with an exciting 10-track collection cut at London’s Lightship 95 and String And Tins studios.
The album opens with a new take on Baby Zeza from the band’s 2019 EP. The reprise is altogether more mellow and polished this time around, although its hypnotic riff still leaves space for a rhythmic keyboard nod to the original part-way through, and features punchy horns and a great alto sax solo from Ronan Perrett, as Oughton’s insistent beat keeps everything on course.
Lead singer Alina Miroshnichenko’s sensitive reading of the nostalgic, mid-paced There To Wait is again punctuated by cool brass, before making way for an entrancing closing trombone solo from Teddy Smith, while the exuberant In Bloom sports a fun Latin vibe showcasing Jacky Naylor’s omnipresent keyboards and Dan Smith’s seductive tenor sax. The pensive, understated ballad The Age I Am Now starts on gentle keyboard and guitar notes, but goes on to soar following a fragile vocal from Miroshnichenko, with tenor sax again to the fore.
Things slow down further for the funereally paced title track, featuring Tom Smith’s plaintive, sometimes discordant flute, breaking new ground in arrangement terms and giving Billy Marrows free rein for a shimmering guitar solo which continues behind returning vocals for a grandiose finish, with In The Distance maintaining the reflective mood, its subtle minor-chord horn touches giving support to Miroshnichenko’s studied delivery.
The meditative tone is lifted by the extended Brazilian rhythms of Oka Baião, once again putting Marrows in the limelight along with Perrett on sax and skipper Oughton on fine, frenzied form behind the skins. The South American flavour continues with Não Quero Me Lembrar, a tasteful duet in Portuguese, pairing Miroshnichenko and Oughton, with more improvisational solos from Perrett, Teddy and Tom Smith, and Naylor, and the set closes with the gentle, mellifluous Malaika, which features soft introductory lead vocals before taking off on an exhausting, brass-laden Afro-styled excursion.
To sum up, a great sophomore offering from Rod Oughton and his team. The compositions and arrangements are fresh, new and innovative, with lyrics employing articulate introspection for the reflective pieces and simpler word forms on the lighter numbers, there are several engaging solos which excel without overdoing the improv, and the luxuriant horn arrangements are sublime. Smooth stuff indeed.
Discography
Baby Zeza; There To Wait; In Bloom; Waltz For B; The Age I Am Now; Hope; In The Distance; Oka Baião; Não Quero Me Lembrar; Malaika (46.12)
Rod Oughton (d, v, pc); Alina Miroshnichenko (v); Ronan Perrett (as); Dan Smith (ts); Teddy Smith (t); Billy Marrows (g); Pete Komor (b); Jacky Naylor (kyb); Tom Smith (f, 1, ts, 2, 7, 9, 10). London, 20, 24 August and 1, 8 October 2024.
Frictionless Music
