Cyrus VandenBerghe is the brainchild of the indie/alternative music sensation Welcome Strawberry. The Oakland, California-based artist spent the year of 2021 assembling his solo project, channeling his sound, and surfing the infinite internet. There’s an expression, “Lonely days can make for great art”; ironically, that phrase made a lot of noise when VandenBerghe released his debut track “No One Online.”
This track is in fact a configuration of isolation and all its bittersweet-ness, but with the assistance of Cheyenne Avant on vocals, along with audio engineers Daniel Baylis, Jorge Elbrecht, and Dylan Wall, who accompanied Cyrus on composition and crafting this new jam. We now have the delicacy to enjoy the taste of a fresh picked, yet slightly lonesome strawberry.
“No One Online” exudes copious levels of flavor and features an exquisite amount of depth; it incorporates metal and grunge instrumentals whilst keeping an upbeat, exhilarating pace. Inspired by shoegaze sounds and artists such as My Bloody Valentine, Welcome Strawberry presents his own dynamic musicality to the crowd. This track would rightfully earn a spot in a psychological thriller, or at least satisfy the vision you are the star in one, sitting in the passenger seat wearing gradient shades while cruising along the west coast. You may even spot VandenBerghe entering a Bay Area home preparing a new project for us.
Beautifully recorded by Daniel Baylis in his very own living room, the song’s texture and delivery is unique and balanced with a crisp fusion of all the intricate segments that will leave the audience astonished. In Welcome Strawberry’s latest release, we can appreciate an otherworldly sound design along with zestful instrumentation. This Oakland-based phenom performs a spectacular job in fusing unparalleled techniques, simultaneously maintaining a melodic flow. “No One Online” is a song you can not just listen to once, or twice, but possibly a dozen times to unravel the vivid sounds and explore its peculiar versatility. Now, go have yourself a strawberry.
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This track and others featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Best of June 2022’ Spotify playlist.
