Track Review: Washed Away // Ollie Twohill

I could tell you about how Ollie Twohill embraced music at a young age picking up a guitar at age 7. I could tell you how he was singing before he was speaking and has a perfect pitch musical sense. I could tell you how Ollie Twohill spent his teens performing at small festivals, venues and busking. I could tell you all this, but the most interesting aspect of this Australian artist is his performance style – at least, that’s my opinion. A one-man band, he sings and plays the guitar operating a stomp box with his right foot and a high-hat cymbal with his left. He also happens to be a left-handed guitarist; now, I think that’s pretty cool.

Already featured on Nexus Music Blog, as well as various other publications like Sinusoidal Music and Send Me Your Ears, Ollie Twohill is interesting, intriguing and highly entertaining. Following his single ‘Hollow’, he blasts into 2023 with ‘Washed Away’. As with his previous material, Ollie once again embraces the pop-rock sound of the 90s. ‘Hollow’ had a tinge of Good Charlotte, but ‘Washed Away’ leans more toward Green Day with a tinge of Neck Deep flowing through the melody.

Performed with siblings Lawson and Blair Hamilton (bass and drums respectively), ‘Washed Away’ is bold, rich and filled with dynamic instrumentation in the tender arrangement. Yet, while the melody is soothing and embraces you in a big sonic hug, the pop-rock tones act as a soundtrack for the deeper, poignant theme. Tapping into his inner Billie-Joe Armstrong but with an Australian inflexion in his vocals, ‘Washed Away’ touches on challenging societal issues and the pointedly desperate consequences. In this case, the song is inspired by the effects of the catastrophic floods in Murwillumbah.

“’Washed Away’ is a particularly personal song that was inspired by listening to the affected people who lost pretty much everything during catastrophic floods…that affected my hometown of Murwillumbah and progressively throughout Australia…it was a very emotional period for everyone…” – Ollie Twohill on ‘Washed Away’.

This artist was found on Musosoup #sustainablecurator