OneRepublic is a come-and-go type of band for me. And with that I mean I do not anxiously listen to their songs over and over, but when “I Lived” comes up on my headphones, I can’t avoid feeling a warmth inside.
When I listened to “Let’s Hurt Together” from the band’s new album “Oh My My,” I felt like that.
This is the fourth studio album from the Colorado-native band and does not quite show its identity. In my humble opinion, they tried to please a lot of different musical tastes and ended up with an album that doesn’t really tell a story. And those, for me, are the best types.
OneRepublic is a band that usually has a couple of famous and remarkable singles on the radio, such as “Counting Stars” from their third album “Native,” or the nostalgic 2007 hit “Apologize.” However, the rest of the album doesn’t really stand out.
They sing about change, starting over, falling in love and being eager to run away — like every good pop rock band does nowadays. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy that about them very much, but I wouldn’t want to listen to the playlist of “Oh My My” over and over.
I must admit that the album is catchy and has a lot of electronic beats and Avicii-type harmonies.
“A.I.,” the band’s collaboration with Peter Gabriel, is a good example of that. On the other hand, they also have singles like “Choke” that work as the intense and melancholic, “Apologize”-ish type. But “Oh My My,” the song that gives title to the album, recorded alongside Cassius, is the one I am betting will gain the most amount of remixes.
“Oh My My” was recorded while the band was on their 2016 world tour. On the website ohmymyexperience.com you can see all of the cities that inspired them and how they managed to record while around the world.
“You’ve got to get out to get inspired,” they said in the London segment of their album website.
Also on the website the band explains why the album stands out from the others. They apparently needed to create something that made them feel the need to go on tour again.
“This album is where I think we decided to be less quiet and lot bolder,” Ryan Tedder, OneRepublic’s vocalist said on a previous interview for Entertainment Weekly.
Overall, OneRepublic is a band that knows how to perform live better than develop albums with continuity and meaning. My problem with “Oh My My” is mostly that I had to dig a little to understand its concept.
But I do get that they needed change. We all do once and awhile.
