We practically expect nothing short of greatness from each track that OSQuinn and Blackwinterwells lend their talents on; the act of them coming together just elevates that fact even more so. But even with those points being as apparent as they are, nothing could have prepared us for their most recent offering together in “Oblivion” — a track that is not just among the best songs either of these two have ever come through with, but is essentially one of, if not the most emphatic and remarkable songs to come out this year.
The two have outdone themselves times a million on this track, which is truly saying something considering the two’s already stacked back catalogs respectively. But there is no hyperbole in any of these statements whatsoever — “Oblivion” transcends what it means to make pop music today, and is an all-too-perfect representation of how these two can create a wide variety of emotions in a short, yet dynamically adventurous narrative of a track.
What begins as a solemn, almost folk-esque ballad that utilizes a sample of Tom DeLonge’s now-iconic acoustic guitar riff from “The Fallen” turns into anything but that as the song proceeds. But that shouldn’t take the spotlight away from this first portion in the slightest, as Quinn and Wells both offer sentimental verses that are unbelievably rich and vivid in their own right, so much so to the point where they could spark emotions from just about any listener imaginable.
The tone of this section is resoundingly melancholic and impactful dictated by those aforementioned lyrics and the instrumental itself, too. Wells takes cues from those folk stylistics to elevate it sonically to that next level, but again, the song soon becomes a whole different ballgame towards the middle of its runtime.
Shifting quite literally out of nowhere in the blink of an eye to a scattered and sporadic breakdown, the song now sees Quinn offering a shocking second verse over Wells’ incredible beat switch. The fact that the song takes this much of a detour was a risk in itself, but the way in which the switch itself was executed along with the thematic elements of both portions lyrically stay completely sound make it one of the most impressive moments in music this year.
Quinn rides this beat with an equal measure of grace and intensity, calling back to past songs of her own like “Bad Idea” and “DFWMN” beside a bevy of original bars of her own that drive this encapsulated narrative forward and forward as the song progresses. By the time its all over, the average listener will have gone through a journey in itself, and would most likely be left with the only reaction that they possibly could be left with: one of complete shock and awe.
And really, that’s exactly what this song was meant to do in the first place — create something that no one has ever heard before, and may never hear again if not from these two once in a generation musicians. Unlike past songs of theirs where each single marked simply an “impressive next step” for the two, this song is more of a conclusive statement that says nothing else but “absolutely no one can touch us.”
Some songs say exactly that and fall so short, perhaps in a failed attempt to be groundbreaking and genre-defining in one fell swoop. If it isn’t clear enough already, that opposite is quite obviously the case with “Oblivion.” Quinn and Wells have cemented their own futures as the music world’s next superstars, they just had to make the best song of this year to do so.
https://soundcloud.com/p4rkr/oblivion-w-blackwinterwellsz