SEE TRACK FOR TRACK - ALBUM LYRICS & COMMENTARY
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Oscar Hopkinson, aka Littlecigarette, is a self-taught producer and rapper from the small Norfolk market town of Thetford.

Back in 2019, feeling increasingly frustrated and lonely at the isolation and boredom of small-town life in the UK, Oscar sought refuge and escape in addiction. The intensity of the period proved to be the spark that took his music production and storytelling to the next level. The result is the audacious, paranoiac, nihilistic long-player ‘Omega’.

Over 10 tracks of sparse, dark, raw beats, ‘Omega’ tells the story of a lovelorn young man yearning for connection and romance, of relationships doomed to fail as addiction takes hold, and manic bursts of fantasy, creativity and superhuman self-belief punctuated by moments of despair.

Named due to it being what the artist deemed as his final statement before ending his life, “Omega” was picked up swiftly by Goldie — no stranger himself to the troubles of addiction — for his new label Fallen Tree 1Hundred, and is now on its way to a full exhibition of the darkness and brilliance it contains.

First cut ‘Fur Coat’ draws the listener in to experience the grip of addiction, and the power of invincibility he feels. A firm statement of intent from

In the accompanying music video we see Littlecigarette getting ready for a night out on the town, only to see his efforts were in vain as he remains the black sheep, out at night alone once again in his small town.

The video for cut ‘Got Me a Gun’ picks up where ‘Fur Coat’ ends: at the end of this typical lonely night out around the town, strung out and on the come down as he makes his way home, he repeats the chorus’ dark refrain “Let’s hope I’m never here when I got me a gun…”

In a clever twist, as the track reaches its end we find Littlecigarette once again donning his tatty fur coat — the two videos forming an endless loop, a stark illustration of the relentless cycle of addiction.

It’s as though my songs might have existed before I record them. First, I capture a melody, or a beat, and before long have something novel which brings out my nihilism, self-satire, lovelorn aches and existential angst. And so the record has no shortage of emotional fuel.

Since Oscar wrote and recorded ‘Omega’ he has worked hard to recover from addiction, crediting the process of documenting the period as being the impetus for working to get clean and improve his mental health.

Says Goldie: “Little Cigarette is a young kid who has dealt with a lot of demons and trauma. I sympathise and engage with him and his music because I was exactly the same, using music as catharsis. He has a very clever way of dealing with and processing his emotion into this alter ego. Also a lot like me his music is out there, it’s different, it’s challenging and a little bit Marmite – people are going to respond to his music in different ways – but he’s speaking his own truth.”

FOLLOW LITTLECIGARETTE:
Instagram @littlecigarette