Love Is In The Shit by Otay:onii is one of the most visceral and fascinating records of the year so far.
Release date: May 8, 2026 | Pelagic Records | Bandcamp | Facebook
There’s a German movie by Rainer Werner Fassbinder that’s called Angst essen Seele auf (‘fear eats soul’); well, I would like to offer my own spin on that title’s idea: Erwartungen essen Freude auf (‘expectations eat joy’). Not only do expectations cloud your judgment on any piece of media from the moment you form them in your head, but they can also suck any sense of enjoyment out of it as well.
I arrived at this thought because it’s exactly what happened to me upon interacting with the new album by former Elizabeth Color Wheel vocalist Lane Shi Otayonii, going by her Otay:onii moniker. I thought I had this figured out before I heard a single note – quaint ambient singer-songwriter stuff à la Grouper, maybe with a harder edge to it given Otayonii’s history. What I got instead shut me up so hard I struggled to put it in words.
Love Is In The Shit is a far cry from quaint; in fact, its industrial edge makes it quite the rugged pill to swallow if you’re not careful. And now that I’ve found my footing with it, I realize that it’s a lot better than what I initially wanted it to be. The ambient vocalist shtick I yearned for is already catered to more than enough – this is one of the most original, blunt pieces of music I’ve heard in a while. Otay:onii brings together seemingly disparate elements and eras of music into an abrasive, cohesive whole whose raw emotional impact will leave you reeling.
“Have You Ever”, “No Talent”, and “The Plaice” sound like a version of Nina Simone that was able to meaningfully interact with modern developments like industrial and noise to turn her elaborate soul jazz into a blistering, cutting amalgamation of man and machine. Elsewhere, we hear beats that wouldn’t be out of place on a hip hop or breakbeat record; solo vocal experimentations; drones that cut like errant razorblades; gunshots and birdsong. Eclectic doesn’t begin to fathom the scope of this album.
Otayonii the composer is already a force to be reckoned with – Otayonii the vocalist is an absolute behemoth. From sweetly subtle singing to impassioned shrieks that claw at the listener’s sanity harder than the current state of society, she is able to project her voice in ways that leave you wondering what the hell you just witnessed. She would be a formidable jazz bar singer, but I have to admit that her unclean vocals are far too impressive to be contained in a singular musical context.
Love Is In The Shit isn’t what I wanted, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t exactly what I needed it to be. Fierce, experimental, and utterly spellbinding, it’s one of the most puzzling and demanding records to be released in 2026 thus far. Otay:onii has elevated her already impressive work to a whole new level, and I’m convinced that her trajectory from here on out will be a joy to behold: Freude essen Erwartungen auf (‘joy eats expectations’).
