Carousel,-Oh-Hellos

The Oh Hellos began in a cluttered bedroom, where siblings Maggie and Tyler Heath (born and raised in southern Texas) recorded their self-titled EP in 2011. In the fall of 2012, the duo released their debut full-length record Through the Deep, Dark Valley, an album full of regret and redemption, which they wrote, recorded, produced, mixed, and mastered themselves.

When the time came in early 2013 to bring the music to the stage, the Heaths reached out to friends both new and old and gathered together an ensemble of touring musicians the size of a circus, tumblers and all.

Their 2015 full-length album, Dear Wormwood—a collection of songs inspired in part by C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, Patrick Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind, mythology, folklore, and apocalyptic literature—tells the story of a protagonist trapped in an abusive relationship through a series of letters written to the antagonist. It is at times delicate, intimate, affectionate; and at others, soaring and towering and joyfully explosive.

Notos, the first installment in an ongoing series, is named for the ancient Greco-Roman god of the south wind, who brought storms in the summer. Musically, the record draws from the siblings’ memories of summers spent exploring the Pacific Northwest with their grandparents, as well as their experiences with the frequent threat of hurricanes as they grew up on the Texas Gulf Coast. Thematically, the series considers the question: “where did our ideas come from?” Notos recounts a time when the duo weren’t even aware there was a question to ask, and reflects on the backfire effect we experience when confronted with new information for the first time.

Their influences range from Fleet Foxes and Sufjan Stevens to The Middle East and the Muppets, bending and blending styles and genres into a unique mixture of eclectic folk rock.