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Photo by Elizabeth Miranda

Since launching her self-titled album series just three years ago, Oxis has carved out one of indie pop’s most distinctive creative worlds. Every release expands her marine-inspired universe, with songs named after a different species of fish and shimmering electronic production that moves like the tides themselves. Yet beneath the oceanic aesthetic lies something deeply personal. On Oxis 9, the LA singer-songwriter and producer explores the messy, shifting emotions that accompany change, turning moments of longing, doubt, and connection into another immersive chapter of her ever-growing catalog.

Arriving just six months after Oxis 8, the 10-track project never feels rushed. Instead, it reinforces what has become one of Oxis’ greatest strengths: her ability to capture fleeting feelings before they disappear. Beneath the shimmering synths and restless drum patterns of the record, questions of love, reassurance, and attachment are constantly present. Whether she’s confronting self-sabotage, wrestling with the fear of losing someone, or quietly pleading, “Can you hold me tonight?” on standout single “Knifefish,” Oxis transforms vulnerable moments into electronic pop that feels both immediate and otherworldly.

That emotional immediacy is matched by some of her most confident production to date. While her signature blend of glitch-pop, ambient textures, and pulsating rhythms remains intact, Oxis 9 often feels more dynamic than its predecessor. “Grey Mullet” builds emotional momentum through mantra-like repetition as Oxis admits, “I could never control it,” while the acoustic warmth of “Scup” gradually blossoms into an understated electronic swell, pairing one of the album’s most affecting sentiments, “If you’ve got rocks inside your pocket, I will drain the lake,” with some of its strongest instrumentation. Even the sparsest arrangements leave room for every synth pulse, vocal glitch, and rhythmic shift to carry emotional weight.

Repetition has always been central to Oxis’ songwriting, but here it feels more purposeful than ever. Rather than simply reinforcing a hook, repeated phrases become emotional loops, mirroring the anxious thoughts and unanswered questions that define so much of the record. Songs like the ghostly “Carp,” the heartbreaking “Topsmelt,” the brooding, guitar-led “Perch,” and the abrupt closer “Sturgeon” linger long after they end, not because they provide easy resolutions, but because they embrace uncertainty with remarkable honesty.

With Oxis 9, Oxis doesn’t abandon the world she’s spent years building—she deepens it. Every installment of her self-titled series captures another stage of growing up, and this latest chapter finds her at her most emotionally open, pairing hypnotic production with songwriting that lingers long after the tide has gone out. In an indie-pop landscape that often rewards reinvention, Oxis continues proving that sometimes the most compelling evolution comes from diving deeper into the world you’ve already created.

Listen to Oxis 9 below: