Oh He Dead to perform new album tracks at The Casbah this week
The Washington D.C. band is set to release its fourth studio album, Vertigo, after curating a selection from nearly 100 recorded songs.
By Aiko Petrov ·
Cynthia Johnson, the frontwoman of the indie-soul group Oh He Dead, stated that the band recorded nearly 100 songs while preparing for its fourth studio album. The group had to narrow that vast collection down to a final 10-track lineup for the record, which is titled Vertigo. Johnson explained that this prolific output is managed through a project management application called Trello. The band members upload beats, instrumental tracks, and vocal ideas into specific digital folders. One section of the app is dedicated to material that has the potential to appear on an album. The group constantly moves files into this category as they evaluate their work.
The band members use this digital repository to review their material while touring. They listen to the tracks together during long periods on the road to decide which ideas warrant further development. Johnson noted that every member of the group contributes to the writing process. This collaborative method has helped the quintet develop a sound that blends soul, R&B, jazz, and indie rock. Johnson cited Kings of Leon, Sade, and Stevie Nicks as major personal influences. Her bandmates have expressed appreciation for jazz vibraphonist Roy Ayers, Marvin Gaye, and The Strokes. The resulting musical style is described by Johnson as a mixture of whatever each member feels in the moment.
Oh He Dead originated in 2015 as a folk duo consisting of Johnson and guitarist Alex Salser. The lineup has since expanded to five members. Bassist Colin Sidley, keyboardist Piano Whitman, and drummer Adam Ashforth now complete the group. The band’s name derives from a casual conversation about a song Johnson wrote years earlier. A band member asked what happened to a character in the song, and Johnson replied that the character was dead. The phrase stuck when a promoter asked for a name for a bill, and the group has used it ever since.
The group released three previous albums between 2019 and 2024. Its early work was influenced by a viral appearance in the 2019 NPR Tiny Desk Contest. The 2023 album, Pretty, focused on groovy rhythms, while the 2024 release, Ugly, incorporated darker themes. For Vertigo, the band collaborated with Nashville-based producer Jimmy Mansfield. Mansfield is known for working with country artists such as Eric Church and Lainey Wilson. Johnson said Mansfield helped maintain consistency in her vocal performance and integrated piano and synth parts into the overall mix.
The title track of the new album was written after Johnson was having a difficult day. She was browsing the Trello board intending to write a sad song but found a track Ashforth had named Vertigo. The song shifted her perspective, leading to a feeling of gratitude for being alive. The album cover features a cutout baby photo of Johnson’s six-year-old son, Wallace. He gave permission for its use after the band encouraged her to include it. Foreground Productions has spent approximately two years filming a documentary about the band. The crew has captured footage of the group’s life on the road, including both successful and difficult moments.
The documentary is currently in the editing phase, with a potential completion date in the summer of 2027. The film crew will not attend the band’s upcoming performance at The Casbah in San Diego. They had already filmed the group’s previous show at that venue. The band will focus on performing new material from Vertigo at the event scheduled for Wednesday.
