Dark Oscillations

Dark Oscillations serves as a profound exploration of emotional numbness, isolation, and the desperate yearning to reconnect with reality, even if that reality is painful or unsettling. The song centers heavily on the phrase "slip the anodyne," which is a metaphorical desire to escape the effects of emotional anesthesia. An anodyne is a painkiller or something that soothes; therefore, wanting to slip it implies a rejection of comfort in favor of raw, unvarnished feeling. The narrator is tired of being numbed to the world and instead wishes to plunge into the visceral, sometimes terrifying depths of their own consciousness.

The lyrics portray a protagonist who has retreated into darkness, physically and psychologically, "walking in the underground" and seeking out spaces devoid of light and human contact. This self-imposed isolation acts as a transitionary phase. When the song mentions diving "way down in the dark oscillations" and "deep information," it speaks to the subconscious mind—a place where underlying truths, anxieties, and the primal rhythm of existence are stored. By immersing themselves in these "oscillations" (a recurring, sometimes chaotic fluctuation of emotional states), the narrator finds the only place where they can "be reached."

Furthermore, the song is undeniably colored by the real-life context of its creators, particularly the ongoing divorce between Loma's vocalist Emily Cross and multi-instrumentalist Dan Duszynski during the album's recording. The lyric "your hands on my shoulders / call sign broken formation" hints at a fracturing relationship—a partnership that was once solid but has now lost its structure. To cope with this, the narrator opts to "pull the harder line," confronting the undulating, moving truth of their heartbreak head-on rather than turning to the anodyne of denial or apathy. It is a haunting meditation on the necessity of pain in the human experience.

The narrative of the song opens with an evocative image of the protagonist moving through a subterranean space, leaning heavily against a railing as they traverse the metaphorical and physical underground. In this shadowy, solitary environment, they exist in a state of suspended animation, waiting for the encroaching darkness and the absence of people to finally take over. They express a deep desire to "feel nobody" and be consumed by the lack of light, emphasizing a profound state of emotional and physical isolation.

As the scene shifts, the imagery expands to encompass the cosmos, with the moon exerting its gravitational pull on the ocean. Despite this grand, celestial movement outside, the protagonist remains confined, lying down with their eyes fixed on the ceiling. There is a persistent, aching anticipation—a waiting for genuine feeling to return to their body. Their primary goal is to "slip the anodyne," an anodyne being a painkiller or a source of soothing relief. Instead of seeking comfort, the narrator yearns to break free from this state of emotional numbness and anesthesia, wanting to experience the sharp sting of reality rather than remaining comfortably detached.

The protagonist then describes a descent, running beneath the surface of the light. They plunge "way down in the dark oscillations" and "deep information," descending into the churning depths of their own subconscious or perhaps a chaotic, unseen realm where raw, unfiltered truths reside. It is only in these dark, reverberating depths that they feel they can truly be reached or understood.

In these profound depths, there is a sudden, physical connection—another person's hands resting upon their shoulders. This physical touch introduces a moment of shared intimacy, yet it is framed through a militaristic or communicative metaphor: "call sign broken formation." This suggests a fracturing of unity, a separation, or a structural breakdown between them, perhaps alluding to a dissolving relationship. The narrator feels something elusive and powerful moving and undulating within this darkness. To confront this shifting reality, they "pull the harder line," choosing the difficult, unyielding path of confrontation. Ultimately, their determination remains fixed on slipping the anodyne, completely rejecting numbness in order to fully immerse themselves in the complex, oscillating depths of human emotion.

The creation of Dark Oscillations is deeply intertwined with the formation of the band Loma and the personal upheavals of its members. Loma originated when the duo Cross Record (consisting of Emily Cross and Dan Duszynski) opened for the indie rock band Shearwater (fronted by Jonathan Meiburg) during a 2016 European tour. Meiburg was captivated by the duo's sound, and after a memorable show in Belgium, he proposed that they form a new musical project together.

The trio retreated to a house in Dripping Springs, outside of Austin, Texas, to record their self-titled debut album, which was released on February 16, 2018, via Sub Pop Records. The recording process was marked by extreme emotional tension and raw vulnerability, as Cross and Duszynski, who were married when the project began, underwent a separation and eventual divorce over the course of making the record. This shared creative space became a vessel for their personal heartbreak, lending an incredibly tense and authentic emotional atmosphere to the music.

Interestingly, despite the deeply personal nature of the vocals, the lyrics for Dark Oscillations (and most of the album) were actually written by Jonathan Meiburg for Emily Cross to sing. Cross’s delivery was highly praised for its ghostly, haunting quality, taking full ownership of Meiburg’s words. The song’s production, helmed by Duszynski, was experimental and boundary-pushing. The band incorporated field recordings from around the house, merging organic natural elements with twitchy electronic beats. Reviewers noted that the beat for Dark Oscillations was heavily inspired by the sinister, driving rhythm of Bauhaus’ classic Bela Lugosi's Dead, creating a dark, hypnotic soundscape that perfectly mirrored the song's thematic descent into emotional depths.

Dark Oscillations follows a relatively loose, free-verse rhyme scheme that occasionally tightens into slant rhymes and perfect rhymes to create rhythmic anchors. For instance, in the opening lines, "railing" and "ceiling" function as slant rhymes that give a sense of structure to the verses, while "oscillations" and "information" provide a satisfying polysyllabic rhyme that grounds the song's conceptual core.

Rhythmically, the song operates at a moderate tempo but creates an illusion of acceleration and deceleration through its complex percussion. The meter of the lyrics often plays against the twitchy, pulsating drumbeat. Emily Cross sings with deliberate, sustained phrasing, drawing out syllables in contrast to the rapid, snapping percussion underneath. This interplay between the slow, languid vocal rhythm and the anxious, driving musical rhythm is a brilliant sonic translation of the song's theme: the calm, numb surface of the narrator battling against the chaotic, "undulating" emotions underneath. The syncopated rhythm drives a hypnotic, almost trance-like state that pulls the listener further into the song's shadowy environment.

Loma employs a variety of compelling stylistic techniques to craft the immersive world of Dark Oscillations.

Musical Techniques: The song is built around a twitchy, highly rhythmic electronic beat. Critics have compared this irregular, sometimes accelerating percussion to the whirring and thumping of blood, giving the track a visceral, biological feel. The beat has been likened to the classic post-punk groove of Bauhaus' Bela Lugosi's Dead, providing a sinister, creeping foundation. Musically, Dan Duszynski blends synthetic sounds with organic textures, utilizing spatial audio tricks and subtle background drones to create a claustrophobic yet expansive atmosphere. Emily Cross's vocal delivery is remarkably restrained and icy, gliding across the instrumentation with a ghostly monotone that gradually acquires subtle emotional weight, perfectly capturing the theme of fighting through numbness.

Literary Techniques:

• Repetition: The repetition of the phrase "To slip the anodyne" serves as an anchor and a mantra, emphasizing the desperate need to break free from emotional paralysis.
• Juxtaposition: The lyrics frequently juxtapose the vastness of the natural world ("The moon pulls the ocean back") with intimately confined spaces ("My eyes are on the ceiling").
• Assonance and Consonance: The heavy use of long 'o' and 'a' sounds in lines like "Way down in the dark oscillations / Way down in the deep information" mimics the slow, rolling waves of the oscillations being described, reinforcing the hypnotic, downward pull of the track.
• Synecdoche/Metonymy: "Your hands on my shoulders" distills the presence of another person down to a single point of physical contact, highlighting intimacy while simultaneously maintaining a feeling of detachment.

Dark Oscillations is a standout track from Loma's highly acclaimed 2018 self-titled debut album, released on the legendary indie label Sub Pop. Upon its release, the song and the album garnered strong critical acclaim from outlets like Pitchfork, NPR Music, and Under The Radar, who praised the trio's unique chemistry and the album's spellbinding, haunting atmosphere. The song helped establish Loma as a powerful force in the experimental indie and art-pop scenes.

The music video, directed by Emily Cross, further cemented the song's aesthetic, featuring stark black-and-white visuals of Cross anxiously shifting in bed, reflecting the track's themes of isolation and sleepless introspection. The song received significant airplay on independent radio stations like KEXP, where the band performed a memorable live session. While the track did not dominate mainstream pop charts, it holds a significant place within the indie-folk and experimental rock communities as a masterclass in atmospheric world-building, and it remains a poignant document of the turbulent personal circumstances surrounding the band's inception.

Dark Oscillations is rich with natural, spatial, and mechanical metaphors that illustrate the protagonist's internal landscape.

• The Underground and Darkness: The song opens with the narrator "walking in the underground," an immediate symbol for the subconscious mind, isolation, and withdrawal from society. Seeking out "no lights" represents a desire to block out the overwhelming stimuli of the external world to focus entirely on internal states.
• The Anodyne: This is the central metaphor of the song. An anodyne is a painkilling drug. To "slip the anodyne" symbolizes rejecting emotional numbness, apathy, or the coping mechanisms that prevent one from feeling pain. The narrator prefers the ache of reality over the emptiness of feeling nothing at all.
• The Moon and the Ocean: The line "The moon pulls the ocean back" contrasts the grand, unstoppable forces of nature with the narrator's stagnant, paralyzed state ("My eyes are on the ceiling / I'm waiting on feeling"). It emphasizes human powerlessness and the natural ebb and flow of emotions that the narrator is waiting to experience.
• Dark Oscillations and Deep Information: These terms blend scientific or technological vocabulary with deep emotional resonance. "Oscillations" suggest a wavering, a fluctuation between highs and lows, mimicking the rhythmic, sometimes irregular heartbeat or emotional instability. "Deep information" serves as a metaphor for hidden truths, repressed memories, or profound realizations that only exist beneath the surface of consciousness.
• Call Sign Broken Formation: This military or aviation terminology acts as a metaphor for a relationship or partnership that has fallen out of sync. A "broken formation" signifies that the two individuals are no longer moving together as a unified front, powerfully echoing the real-life separation of the band members.

The most significant recurring phrase in the song is the desire "To slip the anodyne," which bookends different sections of the track. Its repetition is crucial to the song’s meaning, functioning as a desperate plea or a personal directive to wake up from an emotional slumber. An anodyne provides relief from pain, so repeating the need to "slip" it demonstrates an ongoing commitment to facing painful realities.

Another major motif is the concept of moving downward or beneath the surface: "Walking in the underground," "I run below the light," and "Way down in the dark oscillations." This recurring imagery of descent structures the song's narrative arc, framing it as a psychological dive into the depths of the self. Musically, the recurring motif is the twitchy, almost mechanical beat that never relents. It acts as the backbone of the track, mimicking an irregular heartbeat or a radar pulse, reinforcing the themes of "deep information" and seeking a "call sign" within the darkness.