Over my last five years here, Nashville has often felt like a giant pot of musical soup. The dominant flavors are familiar — country, pop, indie rock are the sounds that define the “Music City”. But every so often, an artist rises to the surface that makes you stop and listen, with a sound that’s not the typical stock of music we Nashvillians have grown to know.
In this case, it’s the dark, industrial pop of OUDi.
With as sharp and as catchy pop hooks as anything Taylor Swift might write, OUDi adds an emotional and synth-driven edge to push her music into darker territory. I like to think of it as the antithesis of pop’s usual bright-eyed optimism. One could label it goth romanticism.
In just a few short days on March 20th, 2026, OUDi is releasing her new single “Only Tattoo”: a brooding, emotionally-charged statement piece where metallic textures meet melodic vulnerability. To get better acquainted with this intriguing Nashville outlier, I had the chance to ask OUDi a few questions about who she is and what more we can expect from her in 2026.
Has your darker sound been intentional from the start or did it evolve naturally out of what you were listening to and/or feeling?
- O: I always knew I wanted to return to my industrial roots with OUDi, but it took a few releases to really land in a place that felt honest and right. I’d spent almost a decade writing in a genre that didn’t fully reflect my own taste, so there was a bit of an identity crisis to work through. Reconnecting with Dave and Fu, and then meeting Doug Romanow, is when everything really started to click sonically. I owe a lot to those guys for helping me shape this chapter. If I had to name a couple bands that influenced where I’ve landed, I’d say Boy Harsher and HEALTH.
Your 2024 album ‘everybody dies’ is a bold title to debut with. What headspace were you in? Do you feel like you’ve shifted in your new music?
- During the writing and recording of “everybody dies”, I was very much in a season of picking up the pieces and building a new life for myself. The album reflects a lot of the challenges and changes I had lived through in the years prior and the mental shifts that needed to happen to create a better future.
- [My new singles] “MONSTER” and “Save You Now” are a bit of a departure from the pop elements I had been leaning into before. I wanted something darker and angrier, but still rooted in growth and self-awareness. “MONSTER” really encourages inward reflection and “Save You Now” speaks to a truth I was slowly uncovering that if anyone was going to save me, it was going to be me.
- “Only Tattoo” feels like a full-circle track. It’s where we really found the balance between my industrial/alternative roots and my love for a strong, hook driven melody.
“Only Tattoo” as a title feels deeply personal. Without giving too much away, what does the song mean to you?
- I feel like I’m the product of perpetual heartbreak and this song captures that perfectly for me. It’s about the fear of one day forgetting someone I was once so deeply in love with, or worse, being forgotten by them, like our time together never even existed.
- Isn’t it wild how two people can be so in love, so devoted, and then one day, just be strangers? There’s something devastating about that, but also strangely beautiful. It’s such a testament to human resilience and growth, the way we survive what once felt impossible to live without. I can be nauseatingly nostalgic.
Before going solo as OUDi, you were part of two very different musical worlds, the industrial pop universe of Jakalope and the country sounds of Sons of Daughters. What did each of those experiences give you creatively?
- I always joke that I was the worst part of Jakalope. I was so young and so green, suddenly in rooms with people who had worked with NIN, Manson, legends. And there I was, writing what felt like unintelligent jargon over these massive, incredible sounds. I might be a little hard on myself, but that’s honestly how it felt at the time. I went from thinking I was the shit, to thinking I was shitty fast.
- That said, if I hadn’t been in Jakalope, I may never have met Rave; he’s been such a major player in my life ever since. A friend, a confidant, a creative partner.
“That relationship alone changed the trajectory of everything for me.”
- Sons of Daughters was a whole other kind of experience. We wrote over 500 songs together. That band sharpened me as a songwriter and showed me what it really takes to be a professional touring artist. It also taught me a humbling but necessary lesson: just because you’re signed doesn’t mean you’ve ‘made it’ and it definitely doesn’t mean you get to relax. No one is going to do it for you. If anything, having a team meant I had to double down and work even harder.
- Jakalope introduced me to people who are still major players in my career and development today. Sons of Daughters pushed my craft, strengthened my discipline, and raised my standards across every facet of the industry. SOD also showed me I had a drinking problem, lol.
You’re clearly an artist with wide-ranging taste. Who are the artists that shaped you most growing up? And, if you could put together your absolute dream tour lineup of any era, any artist, who’s on that bill?
- Growing up, I listened to Queen, Madonna, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, HOLE, Rage Against the Machine, and whatever was playing on Top 40 radio. In my 20s, I became a full-on 70s junkie — David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Led Zeppelin, CSNY, The Rolling Stones. That era really shaped my sense of artistry and identity. But the first band that truly changed my life was Nine Inch Nails. I remember standing there with my jaw on the floor the entire show. It shifted something in me creatively. I would have died to see NIN tour with Bowie; in a dream world, I think OUDi would’ve made a pretty perfect opening act on that run.
- Today? My dream lineup would be OUDi, Boy Harsher, and HEALTH.
What does the rest of 2026 have in store for you? Is “Only Tattoo” the first single from a new album or EP? Do you have any tour plans?
- 2026 is really about staying disciplined and keeping up with the savage pace of releasing a song every five weeks. There’s so much that goes into each drop — visuals, rollout, press, content… it’s constant. A second album is definitely in order, but it’s not at the forefront of my mind right now. I’m focused on keeping up with music and drinking enough water every day.
- I recently partnered with MoreDopeMusic in Atlanta and they’re currently working on booking a late spring/early summer US/Canada tour, which I am currently preparing for, as well.
OUDi – “Save You Now” lyric video
For more on OUDi check out: www.itsmeoudi.com
Cover photography by Tanner Roman
Share this article
or
Get music updates in your inbox