Charlotte OC

Despite multiple shifts between record labels and an extended stretch away from releasing music, Charlotte OC sustained a consistent artistic development, moving from the direct singer/songwriter approach of her 2011 major-label debut to the polished blend of pop, R&B, and downtempo electronica featured on Oh the Agony, Oh the Ecstasy (2020).

Charlotte Mary O'Connor, who performs as Charlotte OC, was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, where she began playing guitar and composing songs during her early teenage years. She soon secured a recording agreement with the major label Columbia and issued her first project, the 2011 album For Kenny, under her given name. After that release she stepped away from music for a couple of years to work at her mother’s salon. Upon resuming activity, she signed with the Stranger label—the U.K. imprint associated with Lana Del Rey—and her sound shifted toward a darker tone as the folk elements of her previous work gave way to moodier R&B and downtempo electronic textures.

In 2013 she put out the four-track EP Colour My Heart under the Charlotte OC moniker; the set of dramatic yet restrained songs was recorded with Tim Anderson (Solange, Sia, Banks). Remixes by Moodymann and Yarin Lidor appeared soon afterward. A subsequent arrangement with Harvest/Polydor resulted in the EPs Strange and Burning, released in 2014 and 2015 respectively, followed by the 2017 album Careless People. Operating independently thereafter, she issued several singles across 2019 and 2020 before delivering the EP Oh the Agony, Oh the Ecstasy that same year.