Rising indie-pop artist Oscar Lang walks 1883 Magazine through his new album Look Now in an exclusive track-by-track.

Since his debut back in 2017, Oscar Lang has gone from an industry newbie to one of the punchiest and rawest artists in the UK music scene. His sophomore album Look Now is a sky-soaring and vulnerable body of work that showcases Lang as an artist that is obsessed with exploring his own psyche, diving into all the corners and crevices of his mind to uncover what he’s feeling and why. Exploring themes of heartbreak, grief, love and loss, Look Now is a true soundtrack to Lang’s life — and we’re just lucky to bare witness to it.

To celebrate the release of Look Now, 1883 enlists Oscar Lang to pen an exclusive track-by-track to give everyone a better insight into each song, what they are about, and more.

Song About Me

This song came out of a conversation with an ex in which she had told me not to ‘write a song about her’, which immediately somewhere in my songwriting brain sounded like a great song. It’s obviously heavily inspired by The Beatles and then finds itself near the end passing along the inspiration timeline to Britpop a la The Verve/Oasis.

Everything Unspoken

Everything Unspoken is about all the times in my life I’ve been too shy to say what I was feeling. I’ve always struggled with social anxiety and being thrust back into the dating world was like the exact opposite of what I wanted to do. Everything Unspoken is that person you’d always wished you’d told you liked them. 

Crawl

This is the one song on the album that I’d say is the proper heartfelt breakup song. I wanted the mood to contrast the actual emotional content of the track because at the time I really didn’t want to make an ultra-soppy sad track. I was already struggling enough so sitting in the studio making really sad songs wasn’t what I wanted to do. But I think in some way the contrast of a happy sounding track with sad lyrics actually makes it feel almost sadder. This song was for a while the track that used to make me tear up the most. 

Leave Me Alone

I wanted to write a song about a feeling that I think most people have had. I spent a bit of time in LA last year and went to a few parties and found myself sitting there a lot of the time thinking to myself “God I wish that I was home.” It’s that feeling of just wanting everyone to fuck off. And for someone with a lot of social anxiety, that sounds ideal. 

Blow Ur Cash

This is the oldest track on the album, recorded in 2021. It just stuck around and wiggled its way onto the album because I loved it so much. Have you ever found yourself ordering something on Amazon just so you have something to look forward to? Then this song is for you.

Circle Line

A love letter to the city of London. I was sat there one day and asked myself the question “Will I ever live anywhere else?” And decided that my answer is no. I love this city too much. I love the sounds, the hustle and bustle, the city breathing and the fact that everywhere you go it somehow smells like piss or weed. All the things that sound grim but are really the reason I love this place. The track is full of little recordings from around the city if you listen for them.

Take Me Apart

Take Me Apart is about having friends in your life that will be there to tell you the honest truth even if it hurts. I’ve always been an overly honest person and sometimes that’s not always the best thing. But I’ve always appreciated honest people. 

On God

I lost my mother at the age of 7 to her battle with mental health and eventual suicide. For years I had kind of moved on with my life and not thought about it atoo much. But last year struggling with my own mental health was the first time I felt the true loss of tht parental figure in my life. I just really wanted a hug from my mum. On days like that I would believe in some kind of God just to imagine she was still there for me. 

When You Were A Child

Last year I found myself, for the first time, living a truly adult lifestyle. I was living on my own in an apartment and was struggling to see friends and didn’t like being an adult that much. All my childhood I couldn’t wait to be an adult and now here I was and I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would.  When You Were A Child is all about reminiscing on the good old days where the worst thing you had to worry about was homework. 

Look Now, the new album by Oscar Lang, is out now.