The OaKs, Songs For Waiting

by Lauren Hoessly
04/12/2008

The OaKs (MySpace) album, Songs for Waiting, is an innovative album, to say the least. Released in March 2008, The OaKs band members, Ryan Costello, Matthew Antolick, Jeremy Siegel, Tim Cocking, Greg Wilson, and Melissa Reyes weave a beautiful album with intense lyrics that peer into the lives of people such as Dietrich Bonheoffer and Costello’s friend from Afghanistan. Rhythms and electric jazz sounds make Songs for Waiting an eclectic album on a musical level, as well.

Created in Costello’s old house, this album uses instruments as excellent sources of rhythm and feeling. There is no “artificial reverb,” and the band’s use of a “trumpet, trombone, sax, Hammond organ, bells, synths from the 70’s and 80’s, acoustic and classical guitars, electric and acoustic bass, a plethora of shakers, tambourines, and hand-drums, and a Wurlitzer electric piano from 1959” make the album a glorious vision of lyrical and instrumental literature.

The track, “the first calls (of dietrich bonheoffer),” is embedded with bells and amazing drum beats. The beginning and end of the song culminate with sounds reminiscent of a bluegrass band making friends with a classical guitar and “Moroccan polyrhythms." “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” reveals powerful harmonies and - simply great – trumpet patterns. Each song offers a fresh sound and distinctive voice tracks.

Costello’s life serves as a reservoir of international melodies - he spent two years working for a humanitarian organization in Afghanistan. In the mountains he taught refugees and learned to speak Farsi fluently (this alone should inspire you to listen to The OaKs). Costello’s travels, along with Antolick’s experience and interaction with Moroccan culture, coupled with the wide array of instruments and raw talent of OaKs members, makes this album a picture painted with vibrant and limitless colors. Framed by the wood floors of Costello’s house, Songs for Waiting truly provides its audience with a chance to “dance a new dance” and “hear the beat fall in strange places."

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