Well, it had a bit of an extra long sejourn over the summer, but rejoice, because with autumn here at last, our weekly underrated retro pop music blogs known as Pop Essays have returned! Back where they belong every Thursday at 9am. And kicking things off again this week is the lesser starred follow up to one of the 90s biggest dance anthems and chart toppers…
- Artist: Olive
- Song: Outlaw
- Released: 04/08/1997
- Writers / Producers: Tim Kellett / Robin Taylor-Firth
- Highest UK Chart Position: #14
- Chart Run: 14 – 28 – 40 – 58
Looking back at the career of Olive, one of the latter day bands at the coalface of the trip hop scene in the 90s, formed by former Simply Red keyboardist Tim Kellett, everything about their career seemed quite accidental. Certainly, the unexpected but richly deserved success of their signature song “You’re Not Alone” leant into that perception.
On its first release out in September 1996, it barely troubled the chart – in fact it just missed the top 40 – with their second single, “Miracle”, failing to take off in any big way either, although they built up a steady following with live support slots for Faithless and Lighthouse Family.
But, proof that you can never keep a good song down was shown from the consistent support of DJs – in particular, Radio 1’s Judge Jules – and a new set of remixes that, upon a second release of their debut in May 1997, sent it straight to number one (where it stayed for two weeks) and it was subsequently nominated at the BRIT Awards for Best British Single.
It is still one of our favourite 90s dance anthems of all time; maybe because of its frenetic yet spaced out energy, but also it’s lyrics and the wistful, angelic vocals of Ruth-Ann Boyle, and it’s message of reassurance to a troubled soul. With this kind of backdrop, it meant that following that kind of success consistently was always going to be a tricky one.
The truth is, they probably weren’t destined to be one of those bands that had consistent high hitting singles chart success (indeed the version of “You’re Not Alone” on their debut album, Extra Virgin, was radically different from the one which became a hit).
Nor were they ever likely to be critical darlings, especially when trip hop was starting to fall out of fashion musically as the 90s drew to a close (indeed, Moloko were apparently quite stroppy about being compared to Portishead when they first emerged around the same time).
So with their third single, “Outlaw”, it was probably offering a more honest representation of who Olive were musically and who their long term audience likely was.
Although that’s not to say it’s out of character for the time, far from it, indeed the dramatic strings and clattering beats were evocative of that period. However, they delivered a song that was lyrically the opposite of what had come before.
Ruth-Ann’s voice is the consistent glue holding it all together, but the lyrics immediately establish this as the tale of someone scorning a deceitful loved one: “Two faces / Playing with my trust in you / You cover all your traces / And watch me relax with you / Insidious / Creep away and do your deal / Return what you think is you / It couldn’t be further from the truth”.
There’s an air of iciness in the delivery which matches the production on the bridge – “Cruel / Keeping this a secret / Fool, you surely are / It’s so you, blind to all the damage done / You go too far” – which builds up to the chorus: “Couldn’t you have told me before? / I would have loved you, so much more / Couldn’t you have told me before? / I’m feeling like an outlaw”.
It is perhaps a little less unifying a statement than the main one on their previous single, but that was the point. But setting that aside, there’s still a lot to be enjoyed here. In many ways, the sound and style of Olive was more foreshadowing that of say, Dido, whose own first album No Angel, we would argue shared a sonic kinship with songs like “Outlaw”.
So a debut and peak of #14 in August 1997 was probably a fair assessment of the situation the whole way round. A second release of “Miracle” then followed in October, but when that – spookily – landed at the same position as the original release of “You’re Not Alone”, once again missing the top 40, they seemed to have gone full circle to where they started a year previously. And although still defined by their biggest hit to this day, we say Olive are long overdue a more balanced reinvestigation.
Don’t forget to follow our Pop Essays playlist on Spotify, which includes this and all the songs we’ve written about. What are your memories of this week’s featured song or band? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or message us on our Instagram.
The Niche Reference 