Mar Omin breaks free from toxicity with “Extricate”
Amsterdam based artist Mar Omin released his new piece of work, Extricate, an introspective, cathartic and heartfelt album which allows the acclaimed artist to deal with his deepest and darkest traumas of the past.
Darkness, I know you by name
Mar Omin – Little Bird
Mar Omin : a singular artist
Raised on a houseboat, surrounded by live music from a young age, rhythm and tone flows through Mar’s blood.
Nature is where Mar Omin belongs. Indeed, this is a safe place for the artist to ressource himself, to recover, to understand and process his (darkest) emotions, and do quiet introspective reflections.
The Amsterdam based solo artist has had an illustrious career to date. Having toured Europe and built a feverish fanbase, Mar continues to stride forward with acclaim from the press.
“Extricate”: a quest for freedom and well-being
Extricate is the kind of album which eases your mind, the kind of album which gives you the peace of mind that you’ve been craving for so long. Indeed, the album offers 10 beautiful nuanced neo-soul soundscapes packed with sonic depth, soaring, silky vocal performances and melancholic, personal songwriting.
With Extricate, Mar Omin wants to heal. The artist wants to tear down those negative emotions and feel better. The artist wants to take the listener with him on a journey, where the destination is joy, happiness, confidence and peace.
Indeed, the album is about the discovery of how trapped Mar Omin had become in negative self belief, toxic relationships and freeing himself from them.
The production of the album is also very singular. In 2018, Mar Omin began a daily journal, which allowed him to discover himself, to process his emotions and to discover many things about his beliefs of the world.
The overall mood of the album is very low-key, it sometimes makes me think of some lo-fi sonically. It’s interesting, because through his lyrics and the musical production, we can feel how much the songwriter longs for flying away (hence the title “Little Bird”, which echoes a need for freedom?) and, hence the title of his album, Extricate.
We can hear the distortion in his voice in many songs on the album, which illustrate his heartfelt emotions and pain.
By the way, a track on the album captured my attention: “Today Felt Different”. This track is a silky and sweet instrumental, with elusive sounds. Here, Mar Omar doesn’t sing, and lets the instrumental speak for him. This echoes his need to escape and to ressource, maybe.
Save me from the pain to come
Mar Omin – No Goodbye
In his album, the goal of Mar Omin is really to free himself, extricate, from his darkest feelings. This album deals with many heartfelt and difficult emotions : insecurities, traumas from harsh relationships but also loss. In “No Goodbye”, a sweet ballad which lets us hear the nuances in the artist’ singing, Mar Omin talks about the loss of his father in 2015.
There’s another standout on the album : “Let It Out”. I think that it’s the heart of the album, the essence, because, just with the title, it resumes the will of the artist to release his frustrations, his emotions, on this album.
