Oscar - Cut and Paste

Since Oscar cropped up as part of DIY’s Class of 2016, he’s made a name for himself. Expertly coupling that velveteen baritone croon of his with an endless trunk full of neon-hued Disney t-shirts, the North Londoner is the country’s leading specialist when it comes to beaming pop tunes served sunny side-up. And whether he’s ‘Breaking His Phone’ or whispering sweet nothings and ‘Beautiful Words’ in a special someone’s ear, there’s no raining on Oscar Scheller’s parade of bittersweet jangly joy.

Many of the recognisable lo-fi moments which stamped Oscar’s name across music’s sandy terrain in the first place have been glued down onto the tracklist of ‘Cut and Paste,’ too. The muffled, ah-ah filled ‘Daffodil Days’ still shines just as bright, Scheller sorrowfully begging “don’t waste away,” amid deceptively chipper fields of cheery yellow. ‘Only Friend,’ meanwhile sees Oscar’s pal Marika Hackman hopping headlong in proceedings – planting the seeds of melancholy nostalgia under the roots of their saccharine duet. Tried and tested staples ‘Sometimes’ and ‘Breaking My Phone’ do this with an effortless flick, too; on the latter Scheller sounds like Damon Albarn on a mad one, smashing up his Nokia in a heartbroken haze of anti-logic.