Coming out of Los Angeles, newcomer INYO is an artist whose musical vision is informed by a desire to explore the more emotive sides of life. Working outside the traditional music industry apparatus, he’s built his creative outlet around intimate connections, candid songwriting and a sound that moves between spiritual searching and human longing. Taking cues from artists as varied as Sufjan Stevens, Jeff Buckley, Radiohead and Death Cab for Cutie, INYO brings together creative curiosity, expressive vocals, experimental arrangements and bittersweet storytelling, finding a unique space in the overlap between beauty and grit.
His independent outlook extends beyond the music itself and by not following the usual avenue of performing through established venue circuits, INYO has developed a more grassroots relationship with his audience through collaborative micro-showcases in carefully curated private spaces. These word-of-mouth gatherings, often held in backyards, offer an alternative kind of musical experience, creating an environment in which artists and listeners can engage more directly.
It’s a concept that reflects the qualities at the heart of his work and by placing genuine connection ahead of traditional structures, INYO has created a setting that feels closely aligned with the emotional openness of his songwriting. He introduced his original musical vision in August with the release of debut single âMiracle,â featuring Alex Williams before quickly following up with singles two and three. Now he brings us his most ambitious artistic statement thus far with his debut full-length record titled An Ocean Between, Pt. 1, a cinematic conceptual album that revolves around a story of love, distance and the strange ways people remain connected over time.
The record frames a twelve-year long-distance almost-love story between two people whose family homes stood directly across the street from one another. Despite their physical proximity, their relationship developed through handwritten letters and unexpected moments of reconnection, allowing a connection to endure across the years without ever becoming something straightforward or easily understood. It’s a premise that gives the album a particular emotional tension, exploring the space between closeness and separation, opportunity and the unknown.
Produced by One Way Music with Shoolace at the helm, An Ocean Between, Pt. 1 translates that story into an atmospheric acoustic rock landscape. Its production brings together lo-fi textures and immersive arrangements, creating a contrast between intimate detail and cinematic scale, reflecting the emotional character of the material by allowing the album to move between quieter moments of poignant emotion and larger musical passages.
“Don’t Close Your Eyes” starts the album with soft acoustic guitar notes and soothing bird sound before building with smooth vocal leads and rustling percussion, forming a breezy folk scene. “Impossible to See” flows with atmospheric textures and laid back guitar rhythms as INYO’s expressive voice glides above, progressing with shuffling drums and elegant melodic lines. “Minor Notice” drifts with hazy aesthetic before hushed vocals hover above gentle guitar touches, casting a spellbinding slice of intimate folk rock music that rises with the punch of drums and crunch of lightly gritty guitars.
“Wash” forms with mellow rhythmic sway as graceful flickers of piano add colour to the soothing arrangement and INYO’s stunning voice dance above as he explores the tension between hope and fear through, poetic lyricism and high-register vocals that rise throughout. Songs like “Heart On Fire” crafts a transportive moment through floating synth textures which give way to the patter of percussion, warm key pulses and tender vocal performance.
On “Over Myself,” INYO links up with Asriel Hayes to present a cinematic musical journey that builds from airy string lines to a shimmering indie rock outing. His debut single, “Miracle” featuring Alex Williams, offers a superb showcase of his engaging songwriting and performance flair before the closing track “I Adore” offers an epic finale that swells from an intricate beginning towards an engrossing blend of soaring vocals, washy guitar chords and bright lead flourishes.
With An Ocean Between, Pt. 1, INYO maps out a creative world in which intimate experiences can take on a much wider emotional significance. We caught up with INYO to find out more about his musical journey so far, his debut album An Ocean Between, Pt. 1 and what he’s got lined up for the future. Check out our interview with INYO below.
Hey INYO, howâs things?
Hey, thanks for asking. I think overall things are going well. I hope things are going well for you as well, and thank you for having me for this interview!
Whatâs your earliest memory of making music?
Honestly, I started making music in 6th grade as far as I can remember. I had a vivid imagination that stretched across all my senses and I would hear full songs in my head that felt like responses to the feelings I was having. They were grand and eventually even orchestral, but their sole purpose was to give language to things I felt and didnât yet know how to say. I still engage with my music in this way, although, now, I also have a better grasp on language.
Which artists do you draw most inspiration from?
Classical music is probably what inspires me the most. I absolutely adore Maurice Ravel, Gabriel Faure, Sergei Rachmaninov, among many others. When I was young I did ballet, and that drew me deeper to the sounds of a piano and classical progressions as a whole. Some more contemporary artists might be Jeff Buckley, Sufjan Stevens, Alexi Murdoch, Radiohead, etc. My biggest inspirations are artists who are in exploration and play, and I think these artists are constantly in those places.
How else do you find inspiration for your music?
I have a deep connection to my spiritual life so I intently meditate and pray. The prayer is outward in a sense, but it is also inward because I believe that God lives inwardly and outwardly. That connection to God really only deepens the connection to parts of self that can find themselves being expressed on the guitar, or in the voice, or on the piano.
What do you love about the Los Angeles music scene?
I love the diversity of the music scene in Los Angeles. I really believe people are hungry to find truth here and thats why people gravitate to this city. Even if that truth is caught up in a series of ambitions, delusions, fears, whatever positive or negative it may seem, they are ultimately seeking truth. Itâs a very unique experience to find so many truth seekers expressing themselves across so many genres in their own subtle and/or emphatic ways. Itâs a beautiful array of color and light.
What would you say is the perfect setting for listeners to enjoy your sound?
Deep breaths and long walks? My music is inconsistent in so much as that there isnât one place or space that fits all the tracks, but I think all of the album I just released is a contemplative work. Easy listening that permits thought provocation and self reflection, or at least thatâs my hope. So, deep breaths and long walks seem to be the sort of space(s) that would allow the time and space for the level of introspection that I hope to encourage and support in the creating of that space.
How has your own style and sound evolved since you started out?
Oh man, I think that when you look at my track âUntil You I Was Dyingâ you can really see the closest to what I would originally write like. There was so much feeling involved in the process and it really was such an outpouring of raw thought and unclear unprocessed hope and feelings. That shifted into more intentional desire to hold space for myself and to invite people into my process. That song itself also did take shape in that way as well. The opening track for my album originally started as a 13 minute thought vomit on guitar and vocals in 2017. A video recording I kept for a while because it meant something to me. That video and the original video recording of I adore are what ultimately kept the momentum of this album ever getting made.
Who would be your dream artist to collaborate with?
This may seem out of left field, but I would love to collaborate with Olivia Dean some day. I think she is doing a very special type of work right now for the heart and I love her authenticity in the midst of pop music. Of course, a collaboration with Radiohead would also be stellar as they have been such an inspiration for the freedom in my process.
How did you find making your new album âAn Ocean Between, Pt. 1â?
It was an exercise in patience and surrender. Because some of these ideas had been sitting with me since 2017, the process felt less like building something from scratch and more like slowly chipping away at stone to find the sculpture underneath it all. My producer and I started all of our sessions with connection over meals and prayer. That intimacy was a roadmap for the sound we were uncovering. There were some parts that took more work or time, but it never really felt like a challenge in the traditional sense because it was always about connection and hope; thatâs what helped us translate those raw, acoustic bedroom sketches into expansive, atmospheric soundscapes while keeping the intimacy that made me record them in the first place.
What message did you want to get across with this release?
The release was really the processing of deep questions I had within myself about my romantic life and my spiritual life and really the intersection of the two. I want people to know that we are all processing and wrestling, that nothing is perfect. I want the raw feelings and raw sonic elements to encourage genuineness in humanity, and in the end I want to look at hope together because there is a world that heals and gets better. The wrestling and staying in the tensions is what makes us stronger, and what gives us the place to heal. All things need a place to breathe, to rest, and to wrestle.
What artist have you been listening to most recently?
Olivia Dean, Alexi Murdoch, Moses Sumney, Black Country New Road, The Brilliance. Those are my top artists as of late.
Whatâs the main thing you want people to get out of listening to your music?
Freedom to express, freedom to explore. I just want to encourage people to really dig into the world around them which can also be found in them.
Whatâs been your favourite live performance so far?
I had an album release show that led up to the album going live, and I just felt so supported in that space with over 100 people that showed up. I was the only artist playing and so to have that many people show up was deeply encouraging, and truthfully it was a room full of support, and a love that went both ways.
Who would be 3 artists to headline your dream festival? And where would it be?
If Iâm building a dream lineup that fits the vibe of ‘An Ocean Between’, itâs all about music that feels vast, cinematic, and emotional. Iâd want The War on Drugs for those soaring, late-night guitar drives, Bon Iver for that haunting, electronic-folk atmosphere, and Radiohead to close it out because nobody builds musical tension and space better than them.
Do you have any advice for a new artist wanting to follow your footsteps?
I think my advice is to remember that this is art. Let yourself be free. Be intentional. Take your time. Sit with your work meditatively and trust that as long as it is deeply honest and intentional, it is worth putting out in the world.
Finally, what do you have lined up next?
Up next, Iâm focused on building out the live experience here in LA and creating visual pieces to accompany An Ocean Between, Pt. 1. At the same time, Pt. 2 is already in motion. The album will be tracking over the next year, and I’m pacing it to drop right as we transition out of winter into the spring seasonâitâs music that needs that specific kind of blooming, open space to breathe and be fully taken in.
Listen to An Ocean Between, Pt. 1 below
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