New York, NY (Top40 Charts) After announcing early (short) retirement,
Oliver Tree announces his quick return to music with "Bury Me Alive," his latest single off his upcoming long-in-the-works debut album on Atlantic Records, Ugly is Beautiful. The giddy party track premieres with an equally bizarre music video directed by
Oliver himself (and which led to
Oliver getting a ticket for filming illegally). Shot on a $6 budget, in his signature style using a SnorriCam, the video features pink balloons and a questionable beard that eventually takes a nightmarish turn.
Buy and stream "Bury Me Alive": https://olivertree.lnk.to/BuryMeAlivePR
And watch the intense "Bury Me Alive" music video here: https://olivertree.lnk.to/BuryMeAliveVideoPR
Pre-order Ugly is Beautiful, out June 12: https://olivertree.lnk.to/UglyisBeautifulPR
Ugly is Beautiful was previously slated to come out in March, but
Oliver paused its release due to the continued lockdown. Now he's ready to share the music this Summer and save us from the boredom of CDC guidelines.
Oliver already shared many tracks that will appear on the album, from the bummer anthem "Let Me Down," the jaded "Cash Machine," the tender (sounding at least) "Alien Boy" and the reflective "Hurt." His songs mesh hip-hop beats with a deep love of punk-rock snarl and pretty melodies; he's a Gen Z-er who deeply cares about the craft of a good song. His bowl cut is exceptional, and so are his surreal music videos and mockumentaries that consistently track millions of views.
Tree just unveiled Ugly is Beautiful's album art after a "mysterious hacker" took over his Instagram account, deleted all its photos, and asked for one million comments in return for the official album art and release date. After hitting a million comments (in less than 24 hours), the hacker obliged.
Fans of
Oliver Tree include Rolling Stone ("Oliver Tree is outlandish, and it's working"), VICE ("A music-making meme machine"),
Nylon ("Get weird to the sweet, sweet sounds of
Oliver Tree"), Billboard ("Alt-pop's merry prankster"), Highsnobiety ("truly one-of-a-kind"), MTV ("Tree is one wild fella"), Zane Lowe ("Strong new sound from the Bowled Wonder himself") and Huffpost ("As much philosopher as musician, and a big dreamer at that, Tree's goal is to push the art form forward"). In their recent cover story of
Oliver - including a deep dive into his obsession with scooters and his quest to build the world's largest - AltPress called him "alt-pop's bowl-cut instigator." In 2019,
Oliver made his late-night TV debut with a memorable performance on Corden. His music has logged over 750 million streams to date, and his self-directed music videos have over 100 million views collectively.
Last month,
Oliver announced his retirement, but not before releasing his "
Let Me Down" music video: https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/9354646/oliver-tree-let-me-down-video
Also check out one of his many Genius interviews describing how he approaches his lyrics and music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB3cn3kU6mg
