Oracle Sisters Reach Sonic Divinity in Sophomore Album
Photo by Ella Hermë.
In a world so bogged down by reality, Oracle Sisters are the dreamers who never relent.
Weaving philosophical fables into carefully crafted melodies, the Paris-based trio made music for the chronic thinkers and daydreamers with their sophomore album, Divinations. Multi-instrumentalists Julia Johansen, Lewis Lazar and Christopher Willatt further honed their meditative songwriting skills and created a divine musical universe with the 11-track album, building upon the artistry of their 2023 debut album, Hydranism.
Oracle Sisters launched head first into the Divinations era back in October with the release of lead single “Alouette,” a track with a restless beat and driving bass. With the rest of the album now out in the world, it is clear that “Alouette” was a perfect introduction to Divinations, with its hints of synths and nature-driven narrative laying the record’s sonic and lyrical foundations.
Watch the music video for “Alouette” on YouTube.
These themes became even clearer with the release of second single “Riverside” in December. The track’s main descending keyboard line sounds like the musical representation of a stone being thrown into a pond, its echoes reminiscent of ripples on the water.
If “Riverside” is for listening to “the whistles in the morning,” tracks like “Moon on the Water” are for serenity-filled starry nights. A relaxed bass-driven groove ushers in Johansen’s buttery-smooth vocals as she sings of a moon climbing “sleepless and serene / Quiet in your mind” in the first verse. An extra beat before the chorus catches listeners off guard as Willatt joins Johansen in singing an amalgamation of lyrics like “Hail Mary / Wild honey pie / Silver backed gorilla.” Besides carrying a call back to their 2023 song “Hail Mary,” the disorienting words mirror the haziness of the song’s production, creating a truly captivating atmosphere. An airy tenor saxophone solo carries the track to its end, serving as just one example of the tasteful use of horns on the album.
In “Shotguns,” saxophone swells and flute trills help build momentum between the first couple of verses and a single-note horn staccato rhythm adds to the relaxed groove in a later verse. The song also opens with the lyrics “Shotguns ringing in the dead of night,” a play on The Beatles’s “Blackbird” and an example of the social commentary threaded through the clever storytelling of Divinations.
Based on the literary nonfiction work Caliban and the Witch by Sylvia Federici, “Blue Left Hand” tells of the irony and bleakness of a society founded on greedy capitalism. A raunchy guitar line and hi-hat heavy drum beat are omnipresent throughout the track, contrasting the mostly monotone vocals of Willatt and Johansen as they ask questions like “Where is the laughter? / Where is the taste? / Where is the sunbeam strewn across your face?” As the third single released, “Blue Left Hand” was the perfect introduction to the political themes in Divinations found in songs like “Shotguns” and “Velveteen.”
Oracle Sisters for the “Riverside” music video via Instagram.
A laborious, tom-heavy drum beat opens “Velveteen” before a groovy bass melody and minor synth chord progression come to the forefront. When Willatt enters singing “Mommy and Daddy / Were chopping up winter wood in the valley / While the war rolled on,” his playful inflection satirizes the lyrics and reflects the need for “something good” in the midst of societal struggle. It’s in songs like these that Oracle Sisters’ profound songwriting abilities shine and turn casual listeners into fans.
For others, it’s the trio’s stunning show of musicality that draws people in. Sandwiched between the first two singles, “Marseille” offers an ever-evolving sonic texture, from blocks of synth and bouncy keyboards to a tinny bass melody and gang vocals. Even on “Rodeo,” a more folksy track with a certain country twang, they insert futuristic elements like a theremin accompanying the piano melody of the bridge. This dichotomy between the band’s folk and jazz roots and their commitment to constantly pushing the boundaries of their sound is what makes being an Oracle Sisters fan so fun.
The record closes with title track “Divinations,” a quintessentially Oracle Sisters song with perfectly clean guitar reminiscent of tracks like “Spotlight” and “Most of All” and imagery-driven, reflective lyrics. The full band instrumental hits and gang vocals on “Bye bye bye baby” in the pre-chorus make the track a perfect closer, honing in the ethereal feel of the album one last time as the trio proclaims “It’s all been a dream” in the chorus.
A dream, indeed, is what listening to Divinations for the first time feels like. But, with each subsequent listen, I can confirm that Oracle Sisters further cement themselves in the very real world of musical and storytelling expertise with the art that is their sophomore album, Divinations.