ØKSE feat. billy woods – “Amager” from #ØKSE S/T debut, available August 9, 2024 from Backwoodz Studioz.

PRE-ORDER: http://bwdz.net/okse
PRE-SAVE: http://bwdz.net/okse

The story behind the new single from ØKSE and billy woods is also the story of the song itself. This collaboration—that eventually led to Backwoodz putting out ØKSE’s debut album—started in a quiet town in Switzerland in 2022 when saxophonist Mette Rasmussen and woods played the same tiny but enthusiastic venue. They talked backstage, but it was when they ran into each other on the train to Zurich Airport that the two artists hit it off. They ended up sharing a couple drinks in the terminal and exchanging contact information with the intention of putting in some work. The fuse was lit in early 2023 when Mette sent woods the early workings of what would become “Amager.” He was busy with Maps and wrapping up Armand Hammer’s WBDTS but woods let her know he was down if they could wait for him. Mette said they could, but as an artist who thrives on in-person collaboration, she wanted him to come to Norway to record. They circled a date in the summer when woods would be en route to Poland as part of the Maps tour and could stop in Trondheim for 48 hours. It would prove to be a memorable journey.

“I had a whole song already written for ØKSE when I got on the plane, but I was still working on my verse for the Noname album (It was a feature request that came in with a very tight deadline, and I was about to go on tour.). That said, I liked the track and wanted to do it, so I figured I would try and write the verse on the trip and record it in Norway, killing two birds with one stone,” woods recalls. “When I landed, I got stopped at customs. What happens from there is all in the song. When I walked out an hour later or whatever, Mette was waiting for me and I told her what went down. I remember how angry she was, and I was angry too, but it was an old ache, like when a bad knee is acting up. I remember driving alongside the Fjord, looking at this beautiful alien landscape, as she alternately apologized and fumed. I felt so peaceful looking out that window. I also had that energy that comes when the cops try and violate but you know you are good and you are watching them get madder and madder, feeling like Cam’Ron wagging a finger at Bill O’Reilly.”

But what happened when I got to Trondheim Airport just stuck with me in a way where I thought, this is what I need to write about. It kept nagging me until I decided to jettison the song I had written for ØKSE and replace it with whatever I could make of this experience. I think because it was an experience that was both familiar, and new, I wanted to tap into that while it was still very present in my mind and body. So I basically just went to Mette’s very Scandanavian apartment situation and wrote and ate and drank, and walked around this picturesque town where the sun didn’t set, and I couldn’t tell midnight from noon. And thirty something hours later, I had two songs that are very close to my heart, and this is one of them. It was an experience I will never forget”
– billy woods