Love Letter to a Record: Shye on The Zombies' ‘Odessey and Oracle’

Music Feeds’ Love Letter to a Record series asks artists to reflect on their relationship with the music they love and share stories about how it has influenced their lives. Here, Singaporean singer-songwriter and producer Shye gives kudos to The Zombies’ 1968 album Odessey and Oracle.

Just before Christmas 2021, Singaporean musician Shye was spotted in New York City’s Times Square – twice. Not only was the 20-year-old alt-pop performer there in person, but there was also a digital representation of Shye that extended several storeys above street level. Ten months later, Shye’s star continues to rise, with the release of her new EP, idk it’s complicated. The ten-song release revolves around feelings of nostalgia and regret, along with dreamy indie pop songwriting that’ll appeal to fans of Clairo and Benee.

The Zombies: Odessey and Oracle

Shye: Every now and then I still find myself going back to this album and falling in love with it all over again. The first song I heard by The Zombies was ‘Road Runner’ from their album Begin Here in 2017. I was 15 then and it was around the time when I was finding myself and my own taste in music. My favourites from Begin Here are ‘I Can’t Make Up My Mind’ and ‘Woman’. But we’re here to talk about Odessey and Oracle.

‘Time Of The Season’ is the most popular track from the album, and for good reason. That breathy percussive hook panned to the left during the first verse is simple yet so effective. The first time I heard it, I immediately knew I had to try out the idea for myself in one of my songs.

One of my favourite things about The Zombies’ music is the warmth that it encapsulates. Tracks like ‘Care for Cell 44’ and ‘This Will Be Our Year’ are overflowing with a sense of nostalgia. I feel like Colin Blunstone’s beautiful voice has a huge part to play in that. He is on the list of my favourite voices of all time. The fact that you can hear some of his imperfect vocal takes just adds so much more honesty and emotion to the tracks. It’s also a gentle reminder to myself that as much as I strive for perfection, not everything has to be perfect all the time.

I take a lot of inspiration from their harmonies and melody lines. I think all songs are a dialogue between the instrumentals and voices and The Zombies pull it off so effortlessly. They’re able to come up with such beautiful vocal parts that just melt into the instrumentals.

If you were to ask me why I think The Zombies are great, I’d ask you to listen to ‘Road Runner’, from Begin Here, and ‘A Rose For Emily’, from Odessey and Oracle, back to back. Two completely different songs from the same band. As a producer myself, I love to experiment with genres and styles and so the freedom to genre-bend is always extremely exciting to me.

Odessey and Oracle will always have a special place in my heart because it takes me back to the moment when I realised how much I loved writing and producing music. It was the beginning of an amazing journey that was accidental and still feels a little unreal to this day. When I listen to the songs it allows me to reminisce and relive that experience. I love the cover art too.