A sudden heatwave has struck London and we’re rinsing it for all it’s worth. And where there’s sun, a solid summer soundtrack should follow, so we’ve recruited the musicians featured in HERO 15 to dig deep through their record collections and mix a killer playlist with maximum hit-rate. First up is London-born Oscar, a purveyor of pop and the snazziest dresser in town. With his debut album, Cut and paste, out today, here’s your chance to press ‘play’ on the sounds currently buzzing around his head…

Growing up under London’s grey-skied roof, Oscar Scheller felt a need to break out. That sense of longing underpins the singer-songwriter’s music, crooned home with his rich baritone and honest lyrics, reflecting on love and mundane life stuff. Under the name Oscar, he makes bittersweet pop that feels just as right in your ears on the train home to your folks as it does rattling the speakers over Friday night party chat.

After a string of singles and last year’s Beautiful Words EP, Oscar is pushing through the ceiling with his debut album, out on Wichita Recordings. Titled Cut & Paste, it’s a neat, ten-track package of head bopping goodness that will have no trouble getting you off your feet, should that party turn to a kitchen shuffle. And that’s what Oscar would want. Let him whirl you through a few titles in his record collection and you realise every verse he lays down is heavily shaped by the musical melting pot in his head. Punk, reggae, East Coast hip hop – and a dancehall-driven anthology of the pirate radio he tuned into as a teen – it’s all there, headlined by a passion for the culture of pop music and the stars slaying it.

Though most tracks on the album are new, slow jam Fifteen was written when Oscar was a teen (he’s even got the cassette tape to prove it) and got his first taste of love (“I always left the window open / just so I could hang out with you”) and heartbreak (“But then I see your face / and I want to die”). Ouch. He may be older and wiser now but the content still stands up next to the lo-fi electronics of Be Good and the more modern angst of Breaking My Phone. Oscar’s melancholy is consistent, and it’s got a great sense of humour.

Oscar: Cut and Paste is out now via Wichita Recordings

Image credits:
turtleneck and coat by PAUL SMITH FW16
hair TAKUYA UCHIYAMA using BUMBLE AND BUMBLE; make-up PHILIPPE MILETTO; sittings editor TESS PISANI; photo assistant THEODORA PAPANIKITA