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Embracing the Beautiful Nightmare with Oliver Cronin

Eora artist Oliver Cronin’s having a bumper 2022, and it’s largely thanks to one word that’s defined his year: consistency. We spoke to Oliver about his debut EP Beautiful Nightmare, spending time in Los Angeles and finding his sound after going back to the drawing board.

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Speaking with Eora artist Oliver Cronin is a lesson in self-belief. When we chat with the budding pop star, he’s just returned from a whirlwind four-week stay in Los Angeles, a trip that is set to bear many fruits in the future. For the moment, though, we’re discussing his debut EP, Beautiful Nightmare, which dropped while he was on the plane back home (he’s done his best to ward off any jet lag). It’s a project that Oliver’s intensely proud of, and it follows a three-year period of releasing music, returning to the drawing board and emerging anew.

Beautiful Nightmare builds on the theme of his July single ‘Trapped In L.A’ (which doesn’t feature on the EP). The self-produced single takes cues from the more emotional moments in Justin Bieber’s discography, as well as The Kid LAROI, and tells the story of an aspiring model that’s chasing success for better or worse. Fans of that track will enjoy Beautiful Nightmare, as the EP is full of vignettes that explore a fast-paced lifestyle that is enjoyed and endured in equal measure. It’s easy to lose sight of everything else when you’re chasing fame and success.

Speaking about Beautiful Nightmare, Oliver admits that parts of the project reflect his experiences in the music industry so far – both the good and the bad. “It’s been a massive dream for me to get to this point where I can release projects and release the music I’m releasing right now. But every journey, every road is not all glamorous, it’s not all glitter and gold.” However, he’s also grateful for the challenges that have been thrown his way. “I think it’s made me a better songwriter, a better artist, a better person,” he reflects. “The EP sonically makes you feel the way that I felt, the ups and downs.”

When Oliver speaks about the ups and downs of the music industry, he’s better placed than most to do so. Formerly known as Asher, Oliver began releasing music in 2020, sharing singles like ‘POPPIN’ and ‘You Got It’.  While the tracks achieved relative streaming success, he wasn’t content. “I was releasing music that I wasn’t really happy with, and I wasn’t really connecting with the fanbase,” he explains. “That was tough. I had to really sit back and figure out where I wanted to be and where I wanted to go.”

In order to come back stronger, Oliver took time off between April 2021 (when he featured on Acclaim All-Star Mason Dane’s ‘FOR THE NIGHT’) and March 2022 (when he released ‘On Me’) to adapt and refine his sound, rather than continue to push against the tide. Reflecting on this period, there’s a pensiveness present in Oliver’s voice. It’s not easy for artists of any age to admit that they’re not cutting through the way they expected – doubly so for one just starting out. However, he’s grateful for the experience. He explains, “I think that the biggest thing that I’ve learnt is consistency is everything. I’m glad that I had time away to really figure out who I wanted to be and what music I wanted to release and where I wanted to go.” 

Oliver returned at the start of 2022 with a renewed focus and a shift in sound, leaning wholeheartedly into the pop sound that those first few releases hinted at but didn’t fully explore. Following ‘On Me’, Oliver teamed up once again with Mason Dane to release ‘10,000 Hours’, before releasing a slick, emotionally-charged single that caught fire both here and overseas: ‘Boys Don’t Cry’. The track talks about toxic masculinity and the pressures that men (especially young men) experience to stay stoic in the face of adversity, featuring lyrics like “Baby I got feelings/That I don’t wanna hide” and “Baby I got feelings/They told mе it’s a crime”.

‘Boys Don’t Cry’ resonated with many, but it first got the attention of fans on TikTok, where Oliver first teased the release. Like many artists, TikTok has helped Oliver reach more people–but he also considers it to be a bit of a double-edged sword. He explains that while the platform helped him “realise what people want and what the fans want”, it can temporarily change the way he approaches songwriting. He explains, “There are certain times where I felt myself getting into a bit of a rut, just purely writing songs for TikTok. My be-all and end-all is not TikTok. I want to be a much bigger artist outside of Tik Tok and all social media.” Now, when he’s in the studio, he switches the phone off rather than let outside distractions in. 

Oliver worked with a variety of collaborators to bring the seven tracks on Beautiful Nightmare to life, but his ability to capture the ups and downs of being a musician through each song ties it all together. There are tinges of funk present on the BSAMZ-produced ‘Exit’, which was written alongside Brandon Sammons and Sofia Quinn, while Twelve 40’s woozy production on the love-struck ‘Something bout you’ helps to tie the track together. Fans of the Weeknd should give this a spin. 

Keen-eared fans of Oliver may know that he’s a passionate producer. He produced one of the beats for Mason Dane’s beloved Bars Of Steel segment, as well as some of his earlier singles. Speaking to Oliver, his love for production is evident, and he sees himself as both a producer and an artist in equal measure. His production chops are on display once again with Beautiful Nightmare: he produced the penultimate track ‘Memories’, which sounds rife for late-night trips down the freeway, while EP closer ‘Hope you’re doing well’ was co-produced with Will Roman and packs an emotional punch. It’s a downbeat and introspective reflection on future successes, referencing family, friends and his dreams for his career.

It’s also a release that Oliver’s particularly proud of, describing it as “probably the favourite song” he’s ever made. He reveals, “It’s very personal to me and a note to my future self. it’s something that I hope people can see and look at in five years’ time and think, ‘wow, he’s written about his future self here. Is he achieving what he wanted to achieve?’ That’s a massive moment for me, and I hope people can take away the same thing.”

It’s not hard to get swept up in Oliver’s excitement when he reflects on his time in LA. He reveals that out of the four-week trip, there were maybe “four days” where he wasn’t writing music. He’s walked away from the trip with around “30 songs”, and he’s already looking forward to going back. His vision is bigger than ever following the trip to LA, and America’s just the beginning. He explains, “I believe that my sound is global. In order to push my sound to the world, I’ve got to be in these different places. The States is not the be-all and end-all, I want to be everywhere. But LA, being the hub that it is, is the perfect start for me to start branching out and creating a network that can help me push to another level.” 

Given that 2022’s seen Oliver travel to LA and release his debut EP, we ask the question: how do you top such a big year? The answer? You aim even higher. Looking back on his 2022, Oliver says that once he came back from his hiatus, he knew he had to be consistent. He explains, “I’ve already come so far, and it’s a testament to consistency. I can’t imagine where we’re going to be in a year’s time from now.” Oliver credits this work ethic as being the key factor that helped him have such a big 2022. 

He’s looking to carry that same consistency into 2023 while taking things even further. Speaking about the future, he reveals, “I’m so excited to share some of the stuff that I’ve been writing in LA. I think that [trip] has really sonically leveled me up, and some of the people we’ve been working with were incredible. As I mentioned, I’ve really found consistency to be the key–it was the key for this year.” If Oliver Cronin’s proven anything in 2022, it’s that when it’s time to flip the switch, he’s ready to go. Expect a lot more from him in 2023.

Follow Oliver Cronin here for more and stream the debut EP Beautiful Nightmare here.

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