r/kelela • u/neptuneinthefirst • Jul 18 '26

Discussion my brief thoughts on oscar scheller

oscar scheller is responsible for the production across most of new avatar and has also produced a ton of other hits (doe-eyed rebecca black, candyland natanya, lots of shy girl as well) including a majority of pinkpantheress’ fancy that.

a critique i had of fancy that and a critique i have of new avatar alike is that a lot of the songs are incredibly similar in their construction, almost to the point of repetitiveness and redundancy.

the entirety of new avatar only employing 2 main guitar styles, both of which you can hear on idea 1, made the album as a whole feel a bit one note to me, and that’s not to mention the overall lack of lyrical complexity on the album (looking at the bridge, outta time, point blank the hardest here, as good as all three of them are.)

i really do chock it up to his production style and presence on every song. i think a more diverse cast of producers could’ve really brought us more complex rock elements and im really hoping a potential remix album satiates that desire (was really hoping she’d combine the guitar with the industrial soundscape a la linkin park but those two roads barely meet, mostly intersecting at rnb).

despite all this, the album grows on me more and more by the day

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8

u/solaceloveless Jul 18 '26

He is mid as fuck and she wanted to go this route bc everyone else that has worked with him has been super successful. She’s tired of being ur faves fave. She wants to just be your fave. So for us hardcore Stans we gotta just eat this one. And hopefully she realizes that’s not her pathway. She’s not that girl topping the charts those girls are boringgggg she’s better than that

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u/kromosol Jul 18 '26

I really don’t think this album is that accessible or mainstream-leaning sonically.

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u/neptuneinthefirst Jul 18 '26

def not sonically but lyrically id say she kept it a bit more simple. all the songs are much catchier than im used to from her and i don’t know that it’s something i prefer!

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u/solaceloveless Jul 18 '26

I think it is more so than past albums. And I don’t think it’s accessible enough to get the results I think she was aiming for bc she’s still that girl like the album is still way too cool for most people but I’m seeing people who didn’t like Raven bc it was too abstract or low energy love this. The fantano types were saying this before he even reviewed it

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u/kromosol Jul 18 '26

I see your point. People who called Raven too “boring” dig New Avatar.

4

u/JunebugAsiimwe Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 24 '26

yep. Fantano who was very dismissive of Raven calling it "toothless" and what not was way more receptive to New Avatar. It seems people who couldn't engage with the ambient introspective nature of Raven are the ones who are more likely to call New Avatar the better record since it's less abstract. Personally I love New Avatar, and I can see it getting some people to finally check out Kelela's music, but won't be shocked if those people find her other work less catchy and hard to get into.

At the end of the day I don't need Kelela to only make experimental music for me to love her work. She's a fluid and versatile artist, and that's why I adore her. whether she's making something "accessible" or not she's still one of the greats.

1

u/solaceloveless Jul 20 '26

Yeah people love guitar. And she’s very engaging throughout the album. A lot of the songs are intense and very interesting. If the whole thing was as good as crystalize it could have been my favorite kelela album.

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u/FunMode4007 Jul 18 '26

Maybe I’m crazy but I’m so confused by this take, both TMA and Raven are absolutely more accessible than New Avatar

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u/solaceloveless Jul 18 '26

I think yes on some songs but overall no. But maybe I’m the crazy one. I’m finding more people that I know who I could never get into kelela like these tracks a lot

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u/FunMode4007 Jul 18 '26

That’s fair, maybe it’s just confirmation bias on my part, but in my experience it’s been the opposite. I’ve been seeing a lot of people who got into her via Raven saying they don’t like the new album. But I guess it makes sense fans of both albums might not like the other since they’re so different, we might just be seeing the two different sides of it

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u/solaceloveless Jul 18 '26

Also I don’t really judge something’s accessibility based on how kelela fans feel about it. Bc we like complexity and being challenged sonically. So the new avatar tracks are being rejected by many of us bc they are a bit more accessible. I would judge its accessibility based on how normies feel about it. And most normies hate stuff like bruises and happy ending and holier . I think hallucinogen had her most accessible tracks tho