UK singer-songwriter and guitarist Oscar Jerome is back with “The Fork,” an ambitious and boundary-pushing effort that refuses to discount his music’s soulful core. Although he’s become known for fluidity in jazz, soul, and other alternative influences, Jerome’s latest release is a study in musical freedom, an acclaim that can be driven cosmologically by change, uncertainty, and love.
Clocking in at 11 tracks and 44 minutes, The Fork also plays out like a profoundly personal journey dealing with transformation and taking a chance to be a stranger in a place you’ve never been. “The Fork” is about not being scared of taking the path with the most significant change and challenges.
“The Fork” is organic, almost spiritual, and warm in the opening notes. Songs such as “Desert Belly” and “Limits” simmer with intricacy in their guitar and hypnotic in their rhythm, while tracks like “Make No Mistake” and “Sex On Toast” are philosophical explorations of the commodification of love and art complete with poetic lyricism.
Among the standouts, “The Fork” distills the album’s essence in its meditative flow and introspective lyrics, and “The Butter” adds groove-heavy instrumentation with an irresistible emotional tug. Featuring collaborative work with Hak Baker, anaiis and MA.MOYO, the album’s rich sonic ambiance, is given further depth by the presence of these artists.
“The Fork” also includes a short film that expands the album’s themes into a visual space. This artistic marriage dives listeners deeper into Jerome’s universe, where emotion and self-realization are boundless. One of the UK’s most compelling contemporary artists, Oscar Jerome, shows in “The Fork” that he is not merely following his path but carving it.
Follow Oscar Jerome on Spotify
