Relief is a resplendent thing when it spouts from the lips of Oompa. This year feels starved of it, as does the country, and that famished ache has remained the dominant feeling for as far back as anyone can seem to remember.
Yet as the first notes of the Boston rapper’s new song “Closer” outstretch, relief comes crashing in a like a well-timed, cleansing tidal wave. Released last Friday (November 6), the song arrives as Oompa’s new virtual show at Oberon, titled Unbothered, becomes available for a 48-hour rentals through December 9.
Aside from a source of much-needed musical reprieve and a mood reset, “Closer” is, above all, a steadfast choice: A chin-up, walking-on-air view of the meaningful joys of life. In a press release, Oompa explains the track as being written “amid a summer of refusal to falter or be reactionary in the face of multiple global crises; the coronavirus pandemic and an intense awakening about what it means to be Black in the world… This song isn’t a promise to be a cure to the world’s ills, but something that aims to counter the effects of the poison.”
That’s exactly how “Closer” goes down, too — like a surge of sweetened mindfulness, tailored to this very moment in human history.
“If we all go to hell soon, imma make sure the outro song is heat,” she shared in a recent Instagram post that teased the release of “Closer.” With any luck, we’re on a better path for tomorrow already (Oompa’s courtesy soundtrack still rules, though). Press play below.