Turning Into One - Oxygen

Single Review

By Eli Andrew

Oxygen’s ‘Turning Into One’ opens with a chirping intro riff like birds coming though your bedroom window at 4am. This more or less sets the tone of the track as the clattering drums fill in, slow but heavy and deliberate. An air of melancholy runs throughout, as mirrored in the sombre single artwork. Vocalist Jack Woolston’s lyrics are introspective, painting a picture of frustration and struggle. His voice meanwhile, soars above the arrangement, vulnerable but loud. The crooning is fairly high pitched, All American Rejects style-emo, but there is a layer of post-punk heaviness seething underneath the instrumentation, akin to Fontaines D.C. or Shame. Something grittier and angrier, like Balley Records’ Crows. Oxygen’s guitars swap between jagged and mellow tones at will, whining and bending, giving the tune an abrasive sound along with the machine-like drums, which lend an industrial feel.

Sonically different to their debut single ‘Facade’, ‘Turning Into One’ is perhaps a more polished entry, demonstrating versatility from a band still honing their sound.