New members resurrect old work

THE hard work is finally paying off for local indie band, The Observatory. All 200 first-run coloured vinyls and 80 cassette tapes of their latest album, Oscilla, have sold out in the week of its release - a rare and almost unheard of feat for a homegrown act that gets almost no airplay at all on the radio.

Overnight success it is not. The band has paid its dues over the 12 years that they have been together; touring endlessly both here and overseas, consistently recording critically acclaimed works that help them build a bigger fanbase with each release, and enduring multiple line-up changes as members come and go.

Oscilla, their sixth studio album, finds The Observatory becoming a five piece after drummer, Bani Haykal, left the band earlier this year. He is replaced by new members Cheryl Ong and Yuen Chee Wai (synth, electronics). The rest of the band is made up of founding members Leslie Low (vocals, guitar), Dharma (guitar) and Vivian Wang (keyboards).