After announcing early (short) retirement, Oliver Tree announces his quick return to music with “Bury Me Alive,” his latest single off his upcoming long-in-the-works debut album on Atlantic Records, Ugly is Beautiful. The giddy party track premieres with an equally bizarre music video directed by Oliver himself (and which led to Oliver getting a ticket for filming illegally). Shot on a $6 budget, in his signature style using a SnorriCam, the video features pink balloons and a questionable beard that eventually takes a nightmarish turn.
Ugly is Beautiful was previously slated to come out in March, but Oliver paused its release due to the continued lockdown. Now he’s ready to share the music this summer and save us from the boredom of CDC guidelines. Oliver already shared many tracks that will appear on the album, from the bummer anthem “Let Me Down,” the jaded “Cash Machine,” the tender (sounding at least) “Alien Boy” and the reflective “Hurt.” His songs mesh hip-hop beats with a deep love of punk-rock snarl and pretty melodies; he’s a Gen Z-er who deeply cares about the craft of a good song. His bowl cut is exceptional, and so are his surreal music videos and mockumentaries that consistently track millions of views.
Tree just unveiled Ugly is Beautiful’s album art after a “mysterious hacker” took over his Instagram account, deleted all its photos, and asked for one million comments in return for the official album art and release date. After hitting a million comments (in less than 24 hours), the hacker obliged.
Fans of Oliver Tree include Rolling Stone (“Oliver Tree is outlandish, and it’s working”), VICE (“A music-making meme machine”), Nylon (“Get weird to the sweet, sweet sounds of Oliver Tree”), Billboard (“Alt-pop’s merry prankster”), Highsnobiety (“truly one-of-a-kind”), MTV (“Tree is one wild fella”), Zane Lowe (“Strong new sound from the Bowled Wonder himself”) and Huffpost (“As much philosopher as musician, and a big dreamer at that, Tree’s goal is to push the art form forward”). In their recent cover story of Oliver – including a deep dive into his obsession with scooters and his quest to build the world’s largest scooter – Altpress called him “alt-pop’s bowl-cut instigator.” In 2019, Oliver made his late-night TV debut with a memorable performance on Corden . His music has logged over 750 million streams to date, and his self-directed music videos have over 100 million views collectively.
CONNECT WITH OLIVER TREE:
Website: https://www.olivertreemusic.
