The Oso Oso new album has a name, a date and a home: An Exchange of Information arrives on 6 November, and it will be the first release on Feral Twin, a record label founded by Mark Quinlan of Hop Along. Oso Oso are signed to the label as part of the announcement.
The record comes with a lead single, ‘Know You Know Me Better’, and cover art featuring, in the band’s own quietly charming tradition, a very cute giraffe.
Why Feral Twin matters for the Oso Oso new album
Feral Twin is brand new, and Quinlan has been candid about what he wants it to stand for. ‘I’ve spent most of my life around independent music, as a musician, an agent, a talent buyer, touring, booking shows, and working with artists,’ he said in a press statement. ‘Feral Twin grew out of wanting to take everything I’ve learned from those different sides of the industry and build something intentional where every release matters.’
He was clear about the label’s philosophy. ‘I’m not interested in putting out records just to fill a release schedule,’ Quinlan continued. ‘I want Feral Twin to be a home for music and ideas I genuinely believe in, made by artists I respect, and to give those works the kind of care and attention they deserve.’
That breadth of experience he describes (spanning performance, touring, booking and artist relations) is the kind of background that tends to produce labels run by people who actually understand what artists need. Whether Feral Twin grows into something with lasting reach will depend on the music, but starting with Oso Oso is a reasonable opening argument.
Tour, tracklist and what comes next
The last Oso Oso LP, Life Till Bones, came out in 2024, which means An Exchange of Information follows relatively quickly. Jade Lilitri will take the band out on a North American tour running through October and November. Support on the East Coast comes from Leisure Hour and Bad Luck; heading west, Liquid Mike and Bugsy take over those slots.
The full tracklist for An Exchange of Information runs to twelve tracks: ‘4 AM Redemption’, ‘It’s All Bait’, ‘The Nights’, ‘The Facts’, ‘Know You Know Me Better’, ‘Wind Me Up’, ‘Everybody Has Their Fun’, ‘She Rides in the Stars’, ‘Someone Like That’, ‘Trace Me’, ‘The Premiums’ and ‘The Days’. There’s a looseness to those titles that fits Oso Oso’s approach, plainspoken phrases that somehow accumulate weight by the time the music gets hold of them.
For anyone catching up: ‘Computer Exploder’ landed at number 70 in Pitchfork‘s 100 Best Songs of 2022, which tells you roughly where the band sits in the wider emo-pop conversation. Not a cult secret, not a crossover act, somewhere in that productive middle ground where the audience is devoted and the records actually get to breathe.
An Exchange of Information is out 6 November on Feral Twin. The North American tour runs through October and November with support from Leisure Hour, Bad Luck, Liquid Mike and Bugsy depending on region.
