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Jan 26, 2021 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Andrew Remdenok Ohtis

Illinois-based band Ohtis have returned with a sharp new single, “Schatze,” featuring Stef Chura. Though the band’s debut, Curve of The Earth, released in 2019, the record itself was over a decade in the making with the band forming over 20 years ago. Frontman Sam Swinson’s struggles with addiction resulted in a 15-year hiatus, but with sobriety came an invigorating creative outpouring that coalesced into the band’s acclaimed debut. Thankfully, fans haven’t had to wait another decade for more music as the band has returned with an upcoming 7” vinyl release through Saddle Creek’s Document Series.

Though Curve of The Earth’s incisive lyrical reflections were primarily accompanied by a homespun mix of bluegrass, alt-country, and folk “Schatze” may point to new paths for Ohtis. Opening on spacey synths tones, the band then kicks into gear with a raw, lo-fi garage rock riff, recalling elements of Stef Chura’s debut record.

However, the real highlight is the snarky call-and-response interplay of Chura and Swinson with Swinson playing an anti-social man stuck in arrested development and Chura his exasperated girlfriend. While at times playful the track is nonetheless a scathing take on stagnating relationships and entitled attitudes. As Chura elegantly puts it on her verse, “You’ve been playing that same goddamn video game for 27 nights and 28 days / Grow the fuck up dude, what the fuck.” Of course, Swinson has no qualms about admitting that he’s the problem. He just doesn’t care - “I do what I please / I’m a piece of shit I just think I’ll get away with it,” he admits. The accompanying video watches the argument play out over text as the band interrupts a meditation app.

Swinson explains of “Schatze,” “I got the idea for the song on an oceanfront balcony up in Cambria when my wife got annoyed by my neurotic vape addiction crampin’ the vibes. Most of the rest was written and recorded last year, late at night in a hotel room in Amsterdam.”

Stef Chura says of her contribution, “Sam is a rare songwriter. He speaks from an honest and dark place with a sincerity that I think is refreshing and deeply relatable. Adam [Pressley] is an old friend who was living down the street from me in Detroit at the time this collaboration came to be tossed around. I think someone on my Instagram kept asking me about doing a song with them… So I made a poll as a joke which led to the inevitable. When they showed me the song and the call and response format I was instantly in love with it.” Check out the song below.