The “shadow-side” and follow-up to last year’s acclaimed Pretty, Oh He Dead’s Ugly was first unveiled with the provocative first single, “Strange Love.” Now, their much-anticipated new album is out.
A suite of songs that encompasses everything from death to new love, Ugly now acts as a kind of foil to the poppy, polished Pretty, more akin to what Johnson describes as “your insides – whatever you write in your journal at 4:00 a.m. Homemade, raw, acoustic, sexy and messy.”
Mixed and mastered by Jimmy Mansfield, the album was a true labor of love, recorded over late nights in Salser’s barn studio, where the band tweaked and twisted songs to their formidable will. From the bombastic “Tell Me” (featuring The Honeynut Horns) and the slinky, ominous “Two Days” to the driving “Moonshine,” brassy, warm-hearted “Is It My Love,” and inner blues of the album-closing “Cover Me,” Ugly sees Oh He Dead visiting upon yin and yang, birth and death, beauty and ugliness, somehow straddling opposing worlds yet somehow keeping its feet moving until gravity wins out.
“’Ugly’ is not meant to be just sad,” CJ Johnson says. “All the songs are about the beauty of the darkness that leads to more light.”
The origins of Oh He Dead run deep, forged from the years-long relationship between frontwoman CJ Johnson and manager/collaborator Claire Newbegin which started when the latter taught Johnson in high school history and musical theater. “Whether as Rizzo in Grease or Maureen in Rent, she was just a forcefield,” Newbegin says. “By the time she graduated, I’m pretty sure the whole school knew she was going to be a rock star of sorts.”
Are you giving this one a spin?
Oh He Dead On Tour:
October
10 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge
11 – Brattleboro, VT – Stone Church
12 – Lancaster, PA – Tellus360
13 – Amherst, MA – The Drake
16 – Philadelphia, PA – World Cafe Live
17 – Fairfield, CT – StageOne
18 – Burlington, VT – Nectar’s
19 – Boston, MA – Middle East Upstairs
20 – Portland, ME – Portland House of Music
November
13 – Asheville, NC – Salvage Station
14 – Atlanta, GA – Smith’s Olde Bar
15 – Nashville, TN – Vinyl Lounge
December
5 – Tysons, VA – The Vault & Lounge
6 – Hagerstown, MD – Hub City
7 – Lititz, PA – The Lititz Shirt Factory
