It’s been roughly three years since we last heard a collection of songs from vaunted soul & production outfit, The O’My’s. After making a historic run of projects, videos, live shows and tours that spanned over five years plus, the guys settled back for a bit, allowing the creative process to wash over them once again. The result of that short hiatus is well worth the wait, as the three years in between culminated today in the release of their latest body of work, Tomorrow.
Following the release of their 2015 project, Keeping The Faith EP, the core of the group, Maceo Haymes and Nick Hennessey took a step back after completing the necessary touring and support. They went on a journey, moved around the city, the country and the world, developed some new source material to cull from and generally just took the pressure off for a minute. That time allowed for some serious development that really comes through in a strong way throughout this one.
About two months ago Maceo invited me up to his apartment just off the lake in Rogers Park to have some dinner and get my first listen to the project I’d been anticipating for years. As the sun set over the beach outside the window we made our way through it track by track. What becomes apparent at about the point you catch Saba’s perfectly-placed feature is that this project represents a culmination of everything these two have done together for the better part of a decade. There’s no guessing here, just calculated steps forward. In his new HBO series, “The Shop” Lebron James makes a statement when asked about what drives him now. Replying, he said that “other people don’t have to motivate me anymore, I know what I have to do to get what I want now”. That sentiment finds legs here as well. Hennessey and Haymes have been creating music together for most of their adulthood and it showed last night at a listening party for the project at Gallery Cabaret in Wicker Park where they performed. Without glancing or gesturing the pair always know where to go next, able to pick up if it sways elsewhere. At a time when musicianship is often undervalued, The O’My’s prove to be a perfect throwback for the right reasons.
The guys also dropped off their new video for the single “Idea” featuring Chance The Rapper a day after the project’s soft release. Shot by Havas’ Jason Peterson, the video is a powerful black and white affair that illustrates one of the most impactful songs on the entire project. Get into that below.
Without further ado, go ahead and get into this one above and make sure to keep it locked ot Mild Sauce Radio where we’ll be playing the album in it’s entirety regularly.