Mary Ocher – Your Guide to Revolution
Mary Ocher has been pushing the boundaries of pop and avant-garde music for almost two decades, transcending the lines between high and low cultures. A punk poet, sound artist, director and visual artist, Ocher counts artists such as Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Animal Collective, Sean Lennon, and Nan Goldin among her admirers. Focusing on topics as grave as war, authoritarianism and nationalism, her upcoming album joins a series of apocalyptic and politically charged concept albums.
Throughout her career, Ocher has collaborated with a diverse array of artists including post-rock giants Mogwai, electronic moguls Red Axes, psych/rocknroll guru King Khan, avant-garde legends Die Tödliche Doris, Julia Kent and Felix Kubin and many more, showcasing her versatility and passionate commitment to the preservation of underground music. Since moving to Berlin in 2007, she has become an icon of the city’s underground music scene while cultivating a loyal following across the world.
Upcoming album Your Guide To Revolution could have been profoundly heavy, but instead it’s an ode to hope. In fact, it offers certain avant pop anthems and summer grooves, along more adventurous pieces. Today it’s announced for a July 19th US/worldwide release date via Underground Institute, preceded by an EU release on June 14th.
“Sympathize” – the rolling, head-nodding and enticingly haunting lead single – tackles the trivialization of civilian deaths by cynical politicians attempting to sway public opinion (“sympathize with us, because our corpses are nice”).
The music video shows a group of people on a garbage island so immersed in their phones that they fail to notice someone is shouting for help, which could be a metaphor for Europe itself. “Sympathize” has also inspired numerous captivating remixes from the likes of Pyrolator, Mehmet Aslan and others.
The album will be released along with a text on survival for artists and other nonconformists titled “A Guide to Radical Living – A no nonsense guide to living comfortably with just enough; Why wealth needs poverty and how not to play along”.
Mary Ocher Live Dates
05.01.24 – Stockholm – Fasching (with Your Government)
05.02.24 – Copenhagen – Kulturhuset Islands Brygge (with Your Government)
05.09.24 – Nijmegen – Extrapool
05.25.24 – Chemnitz – Weltecho
05.31.24 – Linz – Stadtwerkstatt (with Your Government)
06.01.24 – Villach – Kulturhof Villach (with Your Government)
06.02.23 – Regen – Oberstübchen
06.14.24 – Berlin – Album release show (details TBA around May)
06.26.24 – Laerz – Fusion festival
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