Release Date:
– 16 Apr: xo (Album)
For Fans of: Timber Timbre, Arcade Fire, Alice Phoebe Lou
Bio:
Ex Olympic is the bright eyed, eternally curious self-trained composer, producer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, Nicolaas Van Reenen.
Nic has been integral to some seminal ensembles in the South African alternative music scene such as Bateleur (the six-piece band which deeply stirred the Cape Town Scene with its blend of progressive and psychedelic rock), and as part of Spoek Mathambo’s band, “Mshini Wam” – a unique afro-futurist outfit pushing both sonic and aesthetic boundaries to international acclaim.
Ex Olympic is the bright eyed, eternally curious self-trained composer, producer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, Nicolaas Van Reenen.
Nic has been integral to some seminal ensembles in the South African alternative music scene such as Bateleur (the six-piece band which deeply stirred the Cape Town Scene with its blend of progressive and psychedelic rock), and as part of Spoek Mathambo’s band, “Mshini Wam” – a unique afro-futurist outfit pushing both sonic and aesthetic boundaries to international acclaim.
Van Reenen was also the bleep-bloop-fiddler behind Fever Trails – a solo electronic endeavour releasing under UK labels Activia Benz and Ryan Hemsworth’s Secret Songs.
XO is Ex Olympic’s debut long play, following his 2019 EP Hangups. XO finds a deep honesty and nostalgia whilst at the same time honours a fresh perspective and production aesthetic which would resonate with fans of Timber Timbre, Arcade Fire, Radiohead, and Here We Go Magic while still evoking the crooning baritone sentimentality of Leonard Cohen and Richard Hawley.
