Odeal Candidly Explores Deeper Complexities of Love on Lustropolis EP

Exploring the depths of what it takes to keep the fire alive in relationships, without sounding cliché is a balancing act. One must be able to craft songs that feel deeply personal to the artist, yet also relatable to the world. A skill that only the finest talent can achieve.

German born artist Odeal has managed to capture the true essence of navigating one’s passion and insecurities, in a body of work that illustrates his diversity as a rising star in music. His new collection of songs is being released to the world through LVRN (Love Renaissance) as his choice of label and now musical home.

As an artist who was born in Germany, but spent time in Spain, Nigeria and the UK, Odeal prides himself on harnessing different cultural influences, presenting his music with an element of freedom. This comes with the knowledge that there will always be an understanding of his songs somewhere in the world.

The EP opens with the soft guitar led ballad ‘Can’t Stay’, with lyrics rooted in reflection of a past relationship. “You made me who I was, not what I become, you made me who I was, go make another one”. Even though the song showcases a vulnerable side to Odeal, it isn’t without strength, as he is focused on letting go and moving forward.

Odeal picks up the pace by leaning into a more beat driven production on ‘Modern Day Suicide’, reuniting with a past flame, picking up where they left off.

Sampling the original R&B temptress Aaliyah, with her song ‘Are You That Somebody’ on ‘Temptress’, Odeal surrenders himself to passion knowing it could end in turmoil. The fleshed-out production on the track creates an underlying warmth to the song, mirroring the fire in his relationship and the danger it could bring.

‘You’re Stuck’ sees Odeal collaborate with U.S. R&B superstar, and new LVRN label mate Summer Walker. Here, they both create a tangible chemistry in their dialogue that is palpable. Odeal flips between flaunting his credentials, to showing his softer side trying to win her over. However, Summer is having none of it and stands strong in her conviction to move on.

Odeal decides to really flex his versatility on the production choices with tracks five and six, ‘SHOWBIZ’ and ‘HBTS’ (Haven’t Been The Same). ‘Showbiz’ starts with a melancholic R&B intro backed with keyboard and soft haunting harmonies. However, when it gets to the chorus, the production breaks into a 90s garage infused beat. A welcome detour from our regular programming. 

For ‘HBTS’, Jazz is Odeal’s genre of choice to experiment with. A rousing symphony of instruments linger in the production really elevated by the saxophone, which complement Odeal’s smooth tone.

The EP concludes with ‘Blame U’, a personal highlight. The song has all the ingredients of an R&B staple. A delicate intro, bubbling production backdrop, a strong beat entry point, to keep the momentum going, and an exhibit of his vocal capabilities. ‘Blame U’ is the perfect song for Odeal to keep his audience wanting more.

With a track record of previous support from the likes of NME, Complex, Notion and BBC 1Xtra to name a few, Odeal has already been pitted as an artist to watch. This combined with a strong anchor of talented songwriters and producers including Charlie Pitts (Sasha Keable), Harry Westlake (Roy Woods), Dan Hylton (Rachel Chinouriri) and Ezra Skys (Prez LP), Odeal is bound to make waves with Lustropolis.

Listen here