Otto Rollo - Longtime

The first time I’d listened to Otto Rollo was when he released this amazing cover of Johnny Cash’s Chattanooga Sugarbabe as part of his Scenic City EP. After months of waiting for some new material, he put out a release on one of my favorite tape labels, Sunup Recordings.

Otto Rollo’s one track, 30 minute album, Longtime, covers plenty of territory. Ranging from lofi guitar and vocal pieces to more beat driven tracks there’s a great amount of detail and texture here. Even dabbling with sampling, Longtime is able to experiment with various forms of music and display it as one cohesive piece. Nothing feels out of place regardless of the contrasting styles as it’s all molded into Otto Rollo’s style and delivery.

For example, tracks that are mostly vocals and guitar receive layered and eerie vocals while the sample based tunes are still wrapped in the fuzzy, lofi sound. Subtle touches are applied to every piece of these tracks until they fit in to the sound Otto Rollo is creating. 

Pulling this off is no doubt a difficult task but the beauty in this album is that it feels effortless. There’s so much at play throughout Longtime and it all flows together very well.