Literary Chamber Rock Quintet Oracle Hysterical Adapts Greek Tragedy

Soundcheck | May 24, 2018

Part book club, part composer collective, Oracle Hysterical’s works occupy the fluid space between classically-inclined song-cycle and art-rock concept album. The group’s songs take on great literary with text sources from Grimms’ Fairy Tales to Greek tragedy, and falsely-attributed Shakespeare, all in modern settings that might be chamber rock, baroque folk or (staff favorite:) “Alt-classical.” The chamber band’s latest is "Hecuba," a “savage story of revenge in which the disgraced queen of Troy, Hecuba, with her city razed and her children murdered, descends from nobility to primal violence.” (National Sawdust) Oracle Hysterical plays songs from it in-studio.

Watch the full session here:

Watch the individual songs below:

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