Skip to main content

3 Feet High & RISING: LA Singer-songwriter Otis English Unveils Ben Folds & Fall Out Boy-evoking "Young Kids, Old Love" (Crooked Paintings EP)



"I remember writing this song after hearing like five love songs back-to-back on the radio that were all about "staying young forever" or "never wanting to grow up." It was my first time realizing how unnatural that idea felt to me. I wanted to write a song that said, "f*ck that; let's grow old and learn together and become better with age." Nobody wants to just come out and say how sh*tty being 20 and broke is, so [I'll] do it," Los Angeles singer-songwriter Otis English recently told IMPOSE on the heels of his WHAMS-produced debut single, "Young Kids, Old Love." KLUTCH, within an emailed press release, went as far as to compare English to New Hampshire-bred singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne and buzz-worthy English Electro-Pop band The 1975; although, I would more so compare "Young Kids, Old Love" to the likes of piano-aided Pop-Rockers Fall Out Boy, Andrew McMahon's long-abandoned project Jack's Mannequin, Swedish hit-making super-group Miike Snow, and Alt. Rock forefathers Ben Folds Five. "Otis [English's] upbringing was far from ordinary: his history reads more like a chain of mishaps and tragedies than it does the upbringing of a songwriter. From accidentally burning down his childhood home to watching his father's health drastically deteriorate while living out of his car, Otis doesn't glaze over the negative and the challenging parts of life," English's rather colorful KLUTCH press release continues. While Otis English readies his "cinematic, catchy, inspired, [yet] unapologetically gritty" debut EP for Crooked Paintings, "Young Kids, Old Love" has somehow already managed to rise to #3 (or maybe even higher, by now) on Hype Machine's digi-charts, as well as reaching #20 on Spotify's Global Viral 50 chart, which as Otis himself fittingly proclaimed "is pretty gosh dang cool!"

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

"Let Me Shine for You:" Lindsay Lohan for Playboy (Winter 2011-12 Leak)

Lindsay Lohan essentially embodies exactly "What NOT to Do In Hollywood :" Fame, fortune, success... sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll . Within a fairly short period of time, Lohan somehow managed to obtain a plentiful helping of POWER @ a very young age. This gradual rise-downfall was captured on film; Between 1998-2010, she portrayed a wide array of roles across the silver screen in movies including: Mean Girls, Bobby , Herbie Fully Loaded , Georgia Rule, Machete , and Freaky Friday . Between rapid-paced film shoots, Lindsay Lohan also found time to record 2 Pop Rock albums for Casablanca , Speak (2004) and A Litter More Personal-Raw (2005). Needless to say, Lindsay Lohan has gotten roped up in a lot of troubles and woes with the law over the last 3-5 years... a vicious cycle of drugs, arrest, court, rehab, "daddy issues," jail time [Repeat]. That's the pure basics of it - But Google that shit for additional info, if necessary. Towards the end of...

[W]reckless, Topless American Youth: Lana del Rey - "Born 2 Die" (Britney Spears Birthday 30)

Lana del Rey [Lizzy Grant] effectively became 2011's "It Girl" with the release of her phenomenal debut single, "Video Games" (Stranger) . Like many struggling singer-songwriters, Grant has been signed, dropped, and significantly changed her public image since bursting onto the scene (2009). With that said, it can be assumed that Lana del Rey has collected just as many "haters" as she has avid supporters. To be perfectly honest, the only other artist I can think of that made this much commotion... garnered so much wide-spread buzz/hate and critical acclaim -- right out of the gates -- with just one track is Britney Spears . And maybe in this post- Mike musical era, that's the true synthesis of Pop Culture: Britney Lynn Spears . After months of repeated teasing and speculation, Lana del Rey 's major label debut, Born 2 Die will [finally] be released this coming Jan. 30-31, 2012. Pitchfork reports that it will feature "Off to The Ra...

Liberty Bell Cracked In 1/2: Ween - "Freedom of '76" (Gene Ween's Final Send-Off)

Chocolate & Cheese (1994) was one of the first albums I bought with my own money. I was in some sort of BMG Music Club , where you'd buy 5 CD's and then get 10 for "FREE." It was all sent through mail order and you picked the titles from some special booklet. I'm almost positive that Chocolate & Cheese's side boob-baring album cover was what initially drew me in... mind you, I was 12-15 and the zany Ween logo/middle finger CD graphic really didn't hurt either. Honestly, I forget how I really felt about it @ the time, but a few years later, my older cousin Josh told me that Ween were this BIG college "jam band." CKY did some sort pf 93.3 radio takeover to promote their new album and played "Freedom of '76" late that night on air. Needless to say, I re-visited Chocolate & Cheese @ about 20-something this go 'round and I fucking loved it! Ween were really weird, yet talented... almost too talented. I can vaguel...