Oscilla (The Observatory) | 5/5

SINGAPORE — The sixth album from premier art-rockers The Observatory is also the first recordings that feature new members Cheryl Ong and Yuen Chee Wai in the wake of Bani Haykal’s departure. The result? A slightly more straightforward rock record compared to 2012’s dark visceral Catacombs.

Not that it’s ‘50s rock ‘n’ roll, mind you, but certainly there are recognisable progressive rock elements that reveal a penchant towards minimalist music as well. Consisting only of four songs (two of which are longer than thirteen minutes each) filled with experimental time signatures, extended guitar solo passages, percussive polyrhythms, dense textural instrumentation and lyrical ruminations of the current state of Singapore politics, Oscilla is cutting-edge art that one can conceivably rock out to, which is no mean feat.

When swallowed whole, the metallic Subterfuge, the mathematical title track, the haunting Autodidact and the militant Distilled Ashes operate as a panacea to life’s harsh realities without sacrificing an iota of the emotional damage that these realities inflict. A dichotomy that only the best piece of art is able to deliver.