Premiere!
Safari Room will be releasing a brand new EP entitled OOKO Session Live on Friday, April 12th. They’re debuting the first performance from that release here on WOTT. Listen to “Glass Box” and pre-save the album now.

If you don’t know, OOKO Studios is a DIY event space and recording studio tucked away in Berry Hill. They host art shows, outdoor musical events, record bands, etc. It’s best to just call it a “Creative Space.”

The track from Safari Room is a stripped down version one of the bands oldest songs and is dedicated to a friend of frontman Alec Koukol who passed away last year. The song is an enjoyable swell of emotional outpouring but within the context of a mental struggle with death, it takes on even more weighty impact. Despite the lean setup, they make great use of a searing guitar, intensifying drum kit and Alec’s lonesome vocals.

The EP serves as a nice glimpse into the live capacity of a band that has been putting out consistently slick studio releases for the past few years. Unsurprisingly, they manage to sound every bit as polished.

Let’s get a few interesting facts right out of the way before we talk about this track:

• Zephaniah Bostow is pronounced Zef-uh-nigh-uh Boss-toe
• This track was recorded with WOTT favorite Joe Pisapia
• This will be the debut release from Zephaniah
• The full first minute of the track is not something we’re generally into..

That last bit bears some explanation. First impressions are a difficult hurdle, as most listeners (myself included) don’t listen to much of a song if it doesn’t grab them immediately. It’s an especially difficult hill to climb if your song changes and grows over time but you need listener patience to get them there. Upon first listen of this track, I almost tuned out too soon.

So, in the interest of complete truthiness, had I only heard the first minute of this song I would immediately marked it as “not right” for the WOTT audience. However, a minute in to the track the light percussion kicks in, which changes the vibe of the entire track and opens the door to plenty more instrumentation layering in. Zephaniah’s voice is gentle and delicate, seeming to be very vulnerable during the first portion of the track but transposing into something more confident and headstrong as the instrumentation under it builds.

As a debut release, “Head Full of Steam” serves as an effective enticement for the forthcoming EP.