Lost In The Water

Humming in harmony with Oceania’s autumn and winter season is Dark Green, the collaborative full-length release from Melbourne-based multi-instrumentalists and folk artists Lucy Roleff and Lehmann B Smith. Conceptualized in tandem over the course of two years, Dark Green is the result of a remote, creative retreat off of Australia’s iconic Great Ocean Road. Across nine intimately prismatic works, Lucy and Lehmann’s collection rests in the ether between the reflective stylings of Joni Mitchell and exploratory instrumentation of Sufjan Stevens. Dark Green sees individual meditations from both past and present brought to life as a dialogue of kindred acoustic anecdotes and euphonious orchestrations.

Where Lucy and Lehmann have both established themselves individually in Melbourne’s rich music scene, their artistic congregation was delayed by their disparate musical backgrounds. Lucy, a classically trained musician and painter, enjoyed a childhood immersed in European classical music, story telling, and folk styles. Her solo work pays homage to these influences and aesthetically runs parallel to her acclaimed still-life paintings, evoking a sense of romanticism and otherworldliness stemming from everyday life. Lehmann’s musical resume spans credits with a number of heralded local indie outfits including Totally Mild, Pikelet, Grand Salvo, Laura Jean, and Kes Band. His discography, spread across twelve full-length LPs, emphasizes experimentation on the foundations of rock, folk, and vintage pop music and has made him a sought-after name for local artists and international acts alike, including Bonnie Prince Billy and Sonny & the Sunsets. Aware of each other's talents though not yet acquainted, it wasn’t until Lucy and Lehmann shared a bill together that they noticed their creative overlaps; their similarities and a mutual respect for one another’s fingerpicking styles, guitar preferences, and artistry inspired the potential for collaboration.

The outline of a project began to form as both Lucy and Lehmann traded old sketches of songs and homeless riffs, slowly coalescing into the world they would come to inhabit in Dark Green. Cherished recordings of woodwinds, deep YouTube obscurities, and wonky pastoral folk gems filled up their respective inboxes and inspired fresh angles in which to build anew on top of their older, unfinished works. In the Autumn of 2019, after two years of weaving together demos, Lucy and Lehmann made their way to a remote lodge in a small town along the Great Ocean Road known as Skenes Creek. There, among the verdant foliage and soothing rhythm of crushing waves, the bare bones of the album took form. Between tracking, editing, re-recording, and re-writing lyrics, the two found a sense of solace in the interminable quality of their retreat; the comfort of crackling fires, homemade meals, pots of tea, and walks on the beach breathing a palpable sense of closeness into each recorded take.

Thematically, the songs of Dark Green interchange between Lucy’s contemplations of love & loss, and Lehmann’s confrontation of one’s self in the face of life’s hardships, both explicit and abstract. The album plays out as two friends trading stories and sentiments late into the night, free of burden from the day, yearning for it to stretch longer still. It’s hard to pin down where or when these writings originate - some reflections seem recent whereas others echo from a distant past, or both at once. But spiritually, Dark Green impresses a feeling of welcomed nostalgia and achieves a level of kinship with its escapist origins: a place free of demand and the trappings of the day, beholden only to existing in the moment.

Dark Green (out 16 June on Youngbloods)

Lucy Roleff & Lehmann B Smith - Crooked

From the 12" vinyl edition "Ecstatic Truth"
(releaseday December 9th 2022)

12" vinyl and digital via bandcamp 
limited edition
label: oscarson(osc no. 44)

www.oscarson-label.com
www.oscarson.bandcamp.com

Drape - Juniper Fuse

This piece is dedicated to Otto and Elsa, the incredibly talented musicians in my family that shaped the road I walk on.

Otto was my grandpa (from my mom’s side), and Elsa, his sister, is my great-aunt. My grandpa only saw me play piano once, during a classical music recital when I was around twelve years old. Elsa, on the other hand, is the person that guided me as a pianist and composer until the day I left Peru. Otto was a natural genius that played for diverse orchestras and bands, from salsa to jazz, and released various amazing records. My great-aunt is a talented multidisciplinary artist, classically-trained pianist, and the most inspiring teacher I have ever had. They have completely different styles, personalities, and life stories,  but there is a piece that I know both of them love: La Comparsa by Ernesto Lecuona. I love it, too, and hope to learn how to play it one day. Until then, this is my gift to them. 

Composed, performed and recorded by Sergio Díaz De Rojas
Mastered by Gonzalo Lasheras
Photograph by Tiago Almança
Design by Celia Bayo

Canción para Otto y Elsa

Purchase

This song, which I wrote with my dear friend @Lo-fang, is dedicated to Seraphina, my partner, with whom I have learned to love selflessly. She is a soft ray of sun during a spring afternoon, a foggy autumn morning, my moon and ocean, my home.

About this precious collaboration with Lo-Fang: Our paths crossed in Valencia, Spain, a few years ago, when the world was a bit different. I remember with clarity the day I visited his studio to improvise together. It was such a beautiful experience that it only felt natural to consider collaborating at some point. One day, while working on my new album, I wrote a piece that I felt was asking for something different. So, I sent it to him. He wrote the lyrics, sang them, and played violoncello too, taking the song to a whole new dimension. 

Lyrics:

I drift into her arms
Holding her is where I learned forgiveness
The strength to carry on
Her memory in a song 
She has her silver shoes on 
Dancing again
The melody contains a way

Composed, performed, and recorded by Sergio Díaz De Rojas and and Lo-Fang
Mastered by Gonzalo Lasheras
Photograph by Tiago Almança
Design by Celia Bayo

Holding her is where I learned forgiveness

A little excerpt from "Tu hai la pioggia, respiro il mare", new Music For Sleep (Andrea Porcu) longform work - out 25th August 2023

excerpt - Music For Sleep - Tu hai la pioggia, respiro il mare | MFS

Tracklist

01. Mark David Hadley - Lichen
02. Blochemy - Jag b
03. Adrian Lane - The Field Path
04. Tatsuro Murakami - Swimming in the Dark
05. Stefano Guzzetti - Shoji
06. Thme - Nocens
07. Low Altitude - Kayak
08. Andrew Tasselmyer - Hearts Like Wells
09. Arovane & Taylor Deupree - Denn Repp
10. Darren McClure - Look At The Light
11. Two Hands - One Engine - Winter Blues (Section 4- Melt)

362. Sleepy Sunday Podcast (Elm Records)

Stefano Guzzetti - Lys
vinyl and digital

https://oscarson.bandcamp.com

oscarson no. 54

06 Claudia

https://soundcloud.com/senbeii

https://soundcloud.com/senbeii/you-always-smile-when-youre-sad

Alternate Download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/qu2z9mepksikiru/Senbeii%20-%20You%20Always%20Smile%20When%20You%27re%20Sad%20%28Alicks%20Remix%29.mp3?dl=0

Senbeii - You Always Smile When You're Sad (Alicks Remix)

Format: CD, Digital
Pre-order: 11th April 2025
Release date: 18th April 2025

Esistono luoghi che non hanno mappe,
angoli di vento in cui il tempo si piega,
dove gli sguardi non arrivano
e i sogni si smarriscono come nebbia all’alba.

Le parole mai dette viaggiano leggere,
gli amori non vissuti tremano nell’aria,
mentre le promesse dimenticate
si adagiano sulla pelle del silenzio.

Forse finiscono nei battiti sospesi,
nelle lacrime che non scendono,
nel respiro di chi ancora attende
senza sapere cosa.

E tu, hai mai sentito il sussurro
di ciò che è esistito senza lasciare traccia?

- - 

There are places with no maps,
corners of the wind where time bends,
where gazes never reach,
and dreams drift away like mist at dawn.

Unspoken words travel lightly,
unlived loves tremble in the air,
while forgotten promises
rest on the skin of silence.

Perhaps they end in suspended heartbeats,
in tears that never fall,
in the breath of those who still wait
without knowing for what.

And you—have you ever heard the whisper
of something that existed without leaving a trace?

Copyright © 2025 ROHS! RECORDS, All Rights Reserved



excerpt. come le onde - Dove finiscono le cose invisibili | ROHS!

From the album Everything's A Love Letter. Available at 
www.preservation.com.au

06 Claudia

oscarson

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