Spiritual enlightenment, or at the very least, a form of heavenly bliss, seems to come hand in hand with OM Collective’s music. The self-proclaimed garageband project previously mesmerized us with Psilies Kite, a lush psych folk beauty that reminded us of both Animal Collective and Local Natives. And now they thread their way into our hearts with a tender and gentle folk strummer named Mayae, featuring delicately aching vocals from Mimi Gilbert. Front-man and multi-instrumentalist Tim Ferson considers this melancholic song very dear to his heart. It’s about his ex-partner who moved to Dubai to be an air-hostess. Suffice to say, it was not an amiable break up for the pair, and angry words that can never be taken back were exchanged. This poignancy emanates like a rising tide out of Mayae, which blooms ever so beautifully into vivid, magical animation. Pleat upon pleat of lush psychedelics and organic strings tell Ferson’s tale. The burdens of the heart, the sorrows of the soul, all turn into a timeless story in OM Collective’s attuned hands. One man’s heartbreak is a million men’s misery as we’re gingerly reminded that broken hearts are no rarity throughout all the centuries that man has walked this earth. Ferson elucidates: “Her father died a few years ago. She doesn’t talk to me now. A piece of me wants her to hear this song, to hear that 'gomenasai'. I never had the goddamn chance to say that ultimately meaningless yet ineffably meaningful ‘sorry’ for her dad’s passing. Whoever you are, I hope you feel this track enough to support me in sharing this last love letter, in the hope that it might reach the girl that revolutionised my experience of life.” Like another Japanese expression, komorebi, light filters through the darkness of the verdant forest that surrounds us in Mayae, giving us a splinter of hope, allowing us to believe in the enduring beauty of love and the way it shapes our lives, even if lovers are fated to be torn asunder, or cherished moments must become unforgiving ghosts of the past. Mayae is available now, here.













