Osmosis

Ever since releasing the debut LP On Claws (2010), Thijs Kuijken, the pivotal force behind Utrecht Alt-Folk / Slowcore formation I Am Oak, has been an artist who opts to explore rather than reveal. That particular mindset is beautifully reflected in his music: always adrift in reverie, dreaming, modestly surrendering to the moment, as his honeyed voice pleasantly rests between sound and poetry. I Am Oak is and always remains instantly recognizable in all its elusiveness and vividness. On upcoming full-length Osmosis Kuijken reveals the origin of I Am Oak's intuitive work for the very first time. The title actually betrays it: "osmosis" is a term for the unconscious processing and assimilation of certain ideas, experiences, and knowledge. Music, but also photography, can potentially transform this process into something surreal. This has always been I Am Oak's gift as well: Kuijken habitually transmutes his feelings and thoughts into natural phenomena and landscapes. A good example is "Kamikochi" where a sense of wonder about a straight rainbow in the Japanese Hida Mountains becomes the starting point for deeper reflections. Kuijken has the rare gift of transmuting his feelings and thoughts into natural phenomena and landscapes, operating on a similar wavelength as, for example, Bill Callahan, Sufjan Stevens, Red House Painters, and Low.