January air heavy
the restless Oropendola is swinging
Where are you my sweet?
trills the feathered fella
singing a Spring song

Don't you worry
Winter won't last much longer, dear
but while it's here
Slow down
Don't you hurry
The silence of empty nests

Do you feel this stillness?
Do you feel this stillness?
Do you feel this stillness?

Stillness

written/performed/arranged/produced/recorded by oropendola
one-take lead vox & harpsichord engineered by landon peer 

upright bass: Aidan cafferty

lyrics:

a little alien appeared today
she followed a balloon
rowin a boat down a long canal
guided by the full moon

a baby firefly on a darkened sea
a messenger, a ghost
layers of ancient worlds repeating 
and raising up their silver

oh little alien
diamond skies and pearls
oh little alien
supernatural 
oh little alien
tell us what you’ve heard
 
passing through
passing through
passing through

Little Alien

Knocking Down Flowers

i'll probably feel better (demo)

Across the world, I can feel you
Across waves, same phase of the moon
I gotta put my hands down now
Can I still reach you?

Oh say can we see one another now
(W)ringing out thoughts and prayers
Do we care a little more when all of us are caught
in the storm

It's not enough to hear your voice
You're cutting out but I know we don't have a choice
We gotta stick together now if the wifi allows

Oh say can we see one another now
(W)ringing out thoughts and prayers
Do we care a little more when all of us are caught
in the storm

How long 'til I can see you again
How long 'til I can high-five my friends
How long 'til we can cut it up on the dance floor
How long 'til we see we got another, another chance

Oh say can we see one another now
(W)ringing out thoughts and prayers
Do we care a little more (or do we care a little less)
Do we care a little more (or do we care a little less)
Do we care a little more when all of us are caught
in the storm

storm (demo)

lay here with me 
we are cradled, we are new 
cupped hands in the sink 
running water as we move 
phantom feeling 
on my flesh where you drew 
if you allow me 
I’ll sink into you 

am I a deep sea dreamer or a floating celestial body? 

shimmy up melt down 
I don’t know what’s up with gravity right now 
melt down shimmy up 
-side down and I just can’t get enough 

stars in New Mexico 
I am falling for the road 
cycling through the moons 
in my dollar dancing shoes 
lightning in my bones 
I don’t know where I’m going 

am I a deep sea dreamer or a floating celestial body? 

shimmy up melt down 
I don’t know what’s up with gravity right now 
melt down shimmy up 
-side down and I just can’t get enough 

cycling through the moons in my dollar dancing shoes 
if you allow me to I will sink into you ..... 
in my dollar dancing shoes 

shimmy up melt down 
I don’t know what’s up with gravity right now 
melt down shimmy up 
-side down 

shimmy up melt down 
I don’t know what’s up with gravity right now 
melt down shimmy up 
-side down and I just can’t get enough

shimmy up melt down (demo)

Did you need me to be steady
after I turned into wind
Did you need me to be solid
after I turned to liquid


I'm a fake fraudulent reporter, trying
to decode changes in the weather, pleading
for summer, keeping on my sweater, making
predictions without ever going outside


Promised a little rain, brought in a hurricane
Year after year, can't let it go
Why did you disappear after the air was clear
Year after year, I still don't know
how to trust the sun
how to trust the sun


Sick and tired of believing
all of it is my fault
Laying under a willow~ weeping~
stroking her hair softly


An image inverted in the water, I will
jump in, disappearing altogether
I'm naked, shivering all over, should I
feel whole now, feel whole now
An image inverted in the water, should I
feel whole now, feel whole now
I'm naked, shivering all over, should I
feel whole now, feel whole now?


Promised a little rain, brought in a hurricane
Year after year, can't let it go
Why did you disappear after the air was clear
Year after year, I still don't know
how to trust the sun
how to trust the sun
how to trust the sun, sun sun
how to trust the sun, sun, sun


How to trust (how do I, how do I, how do I) 
the sun, sun, sun (trust the sun)
How to trust (how do I, how do I, how do I) 
the sun, sun, sun (trust the sun)
How to trust (how do I, how do I, how do I) 
the sun, sun, sun (trust the sun)
How to trust (how do I, how do I, how do I) 
the sun, sun, sun (trust the sun)

trust the sun (demo)

The air is warm and rippling 
The waves wear halos of spray 
I am so thankful 
I am thankful 

When I was sleeping on the line of the shore 
You woke me up, you helped me see more  

Me and Molly 
feelin the earth beneath our feet 
Shadows on our breasts 
Tossin our clothes in the quarry  
We don’t need them now weighing us down 
We don’t need them now  

How bout we make songs and laughter 
with the voices we find together? 
How bout with pieces of the sky and earth we make a necklace?  

If you are seeking far beyond the line of the shore 
I’ll swim beside you til you find what you’re looking for   

Me and Molly 
feelin the earth beneath our feet 
Shadows on our breasts 
Tossin our clothes in the quarry  
We don’t need them now weighing us down 
We don’t need them now  

Light at the center of the sea 
Hand on your heart 
You see me 
Minerals evolve, flowers bloom 
Hand on my heart I see you  

Light at the center of the sea 
Hand on your heart 
You see me 
Minerals evolve, flowers bloom 
Hand on my heart I see you  
Hand on my heart I see you

light at the center (demo)

Joanna Schubert, the Brooklyn-based singer, keyboardist, composer, arranger, and educator behind Oropendola, creates kaleidoscopic chamber pop filled to the brim with energy and emotion. Her songs often sound like a wink but hit like a gut punch, pendulum-swinging from playfulness to earnestness with deft, technicolor brushstrokes. 


After a 2016 vocal cord surgery, Joanna found herself relearning her voice and figuring out what it - she - was capable of. A period of upheaval followed: she ended a 5-year relationship, moved to NYC, and started making music again. On the first day of 2020, two months before the world shut down, she adopted the moniker Oropendola (Latin for golden pendulum, a mesmerizing bird she encountered in the Peruvian Amazon whose songs repeatedly spilled into her own). This move catapulted Joanna into a nonlinear, inward time of deep explorative play and creative unblocking. From there, she recorded her debut album as Oropendola: Waiting for the Sky to Speak, which will be released in March 2023 with Spirit House Records and Wilbur & Moore Records. Working in close collaboration with co-producer Zubin Hensler (Half Waif, Hannah Epperson, Elori Saxl), they created an imaginative and colorful chimera of a collection peppered with with the theatricality of Kate Bush and FKA Twigs; the off-kilter humor of Miranda July; the surrealism of Alice in Wonderland; and the melodic core of Joanna’s childhood soundtrack (90s pop, jazz standards, and the Beatles).


After completing the album, Joanna got restless and released three separate singles and two collections of fully improvised voice memos, all in 2022. Her first single - Stillness - was reviewed as a “delicate and dreamy masterpiece” and “reminiscent of Sufjan Stevens’ finest works.” She also assembled an eclectic 7-piece Oropendola band, complete with synths, clarinet, flute, and 3-part harmonies, with whom she regularly performs in various combinations throughout the city.
 
Primarily a solo creator and performer in the past, collaboration now feels rich and nurturing. Joanna has toured as a keyboardist and backup vocalist with Half Waif and Barrie. She has sung with Samir Langus, Elizabeth & the Catapult, and many others. Currently, she plays in Brooklyn-based bands Beccs and Nicomo and is a member of Rosa, a traditional Serbian vocal group. Joanna’s older sister Erica was her earliest collaborator; they would sing endless harmonies on long car rides and record themselves on the tape deck in their childhood living room in Teaneck, NJ.
 
When she isn’t making music, Joanna is helping other humans make music. She teaches lessons in piano and songwriting, has led contemporary vocal groups, and writes and music directs eccentric musicals with kids. She lives in a 5th floor walk-up with her almost-8 year old cat Moose, and frolics in Greenwood Cemetery every chance she gets.

Oropendola

Popular tracks