OHTIS

has been Sam Swinson and Adam Pressley’s music project off and on since they were kids, first meeting at highschool in Normal, Illinois. With Curve of the Earth (Full Time Hobby, 2019), their first full length release receiving critical praise and gaining a cult following amongst dark-folk-americana fans, and follow-up single Shatze (Saddle Creek, 2021) exploding across radio and playlists alike, Ohtis was a project well poised at the turn of the decade for international acclaim.

After years of debilitating depression and bad choices had chipped away at Sam’s chances of playing music full time with his buds, the pandemic finished off what was left of Ohtis’s touring act, and, save for a handful of shows in the US, it has been a hot minute since we last heard from Ohtis. But the group have been sitting atop a mountain of unreleased material, and with the help of collaborator Ben Woods and his Joy of life International label they are gradually bringing these songs to the world.

RELEASES

WITHOUT BLEMISH

Ohtis emerge from the ether once again with Without Blemish, a haunting new single that lays bare the raw contradictions of self-perception, redemption, and the weight of personal history. This one finds Ohtis frontman Sam Swinson navigating themes of judgment and absolution, backed by rich, sweeping pedal steel and lush vocal harmonies that add an ethereal quality to the song’s existential weight.

Produced by Adam Pressley and Ben Woods, the song’s lyrics wrestle with the desire to be seen as pure in the eyes of another while acknowledging the scars that mark us. Swinson’s delivery is both intimate and unflinching, culminating in the striking realization: “The devil knows the Bible just as well as I know all the parts about me that are flawed.”

The single is accompanied by a B-side that reimagines Bob, a deep cut from Kathy Heideman’s 1976 album Move With Love. Featuring guest vocals from Lala Lala’s Lillie West, the track sees Ohtis expand their sonic palette with Anna Burch’s flute work and Nate Hahn’s pedal steel, creating a glowing, cosmic reverence for the song’s enigmatic subject.

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BLANKETS ON THE BLINDS

Sam Swinson, in his own words: “This (putting blankets on the blinds, shutting out the world and totally avoiding everything) is a completely unsuccessful method of coping with depression that I have developed over many decades. It has gotten me through the worst of times, only to prolong them.”

In our words: We could not be more happy to be working with Ohtis for the label’s first release. Sam’s writing has the power to be simultaneously inviting and devastating, and instantly classic. We had the last album on heavy rotation and whilst this new material is sonically quite a departure from the 2019 release, it builds upon the world that we first fell in love with. A modern take on the American folk tale.

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