Last year I am Oak’s melancholic folk album ‘On Claws’ received critical acclaim. The band formed around Dutch songwriter Thijs Kuijken have since played over 65 in tours and festivals through the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxemburg and Switzerland.

During this Thijs was also working on a new album called ‘Oasem’, which will be released in The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany exactly one year after the release of ‘On Claws’. The slightly darker ‘Oasem’ resembles the overall theme of its predecessors, but musically it might be more removed from the previous album than one would expect. The acoustic backbone that characterized ‘On Claws’ has transformed to one consisting of organs, keyboards and even a balafon.

‘Oasem’ (pronounced like ‘awesome’) is a word in Dutch dialect for ‘breath’. On this album Thijs is cautiously exploring his place in the world by asking questions regarding our relationship to the elements and ancient nature. These questions can become quite overwhelming and confusing at times, but can also encourage new discoveries. ‘Oasem’ is an excerpt from the never-ending search these questions bring about.