Indie artist OTR has signed to Astralwerks, who released his new single, “Heart” ft. Shallou, today. Shallou’s searing vocals paired with OTR’s evocative piano create a poignant yet ultimately transcendent track with the indelible refrain “We get out alive/in your heart.”
Download / stream “Heart” HERE.
View the visualizer HERE.
Shallou – an independent artist who has earned SiriusXM #1 spotswith tracks like “Lie” and “Begin” and landed on the Billboard Dance charts – played “Heart” live for the massive crowd that gathered in the Sahara Tent for his set at both weekends of Coachella 2019.
Ryan, the 26-year old aerospace engineer-turned-producer behind OTR, uncovered his passion for music in 2012, when he began tinkeringon a dusty, run-down piano in his college dorm lobby to break up the routine of classes and studying. Shortly thereafter, he picked up a guitar and began experimenting with Logic on his MacBook Pro. Taking aninternship in Japan in 2014, he found himself living in the small town of in Kurashiki, with no friends and a major language barrier. To combat the isolation, he purchased a keyboard and a train pass and spent all his free time making music and traveling to bigger cities. When he returned to the States, Ryan moved into a neighborhood on the outskirts of downtown Cincinnati known as “Over-the-Rhine” or OTR. The once-neglected area had undergone a renaissance that mirrored his own journey of discovery as music went from hobby to career goal, so it became the ideal name for his project.
As an independent artist, OTR has released a series of singles and the 2018 EP Unfold, racking up more than 7 million cumulative streams across DSPs. The Line of Best Fit observed, “OTR produces complex summer tinged pop that begs to be danced to.” NYLON noted, “A song called ‘Bliss’ has a lot to live up to. Luckily…[it] achieves just that-tenfold.” Praising his 2018 collaboration with Blondage, “Cold Facts,” Ones To Watch said, “we’re confident with just one push of the play button, you will become an instant devotee.” Last week, Thissongissickpremiered OTR’s remix of RKCB’s “Know Love”, and noted, “he has really outdone himself…another incredible release.”
