True to their name, the Dirty Hit label produced quite some (dirty) hits already. It’s home to successful artists like The 1975, Pale Waves, beabadoobee, Wolf Alice, Marika Hackman and London based artist/multi-instrumentalist Oscar Lang. All of them featured on Carte Blanche Music before.

Lang, particularly, is a prolific artist. And astonishingly, all of his output has the same high quality. In only four years’ time, he released numerous EP’s and a full-length album. He just announced his next long-player Chew The Scenery, due out on 16 July.

Following Stuck and Are You Happy?, 21^st Century Hobby is the album’s third single. A strumming song with fuzzy guitars; upbeat and catchy, despite its touches of psychedelia. A perfect radio song in my ears.

As is so often the case recently, there’s a more gloomy message behind the uplifting instrumentation. “21^st Century Hobby’ is a tune based on the idea of society’s obsession with sharing your life online and comparing yourself to other people”, Lang says in a press release. “There was one point where I was spending 13 hours a week on social media, which equated to about a month every year. That was a really dark time for me – I always thought that it would never affect me, but it took some time to realise that it was subconsciously affecting my mental health.”

The main strength of this song is the fact it never tries too hard to get the message across. You’ll find yourself humming and singing along without being aware of it. In the end, it’s up to you to take action or not. If you’re completely happy with your ‘21^st century hobby’, good for you!

Recommended as well:
Oscar Lang – Get Out
Oscar Lang – Apple Juice

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Werner Schlosser

I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.