Honestly, music critics didn't know what to do with OneRepublic's Oh My My when it dropped in 2016. They really didn't. It was a weird time for pop music. The industry was shifting toward minimalist trap-pop and moody R&B, and here comes Ryan Tedder with a 16-track behemoth that sounds like a frantic trip through a global jukebox. It’s loud. It’s messy. It’s ambitious.
Most people remember Native as the peak because of "Counting Stars," and that's fair. But Oh My My is where the band actually got interesting. They stopped trying to write "The Perfect Radio Hit" and started writing whatever they felt like. You've got tracks like "Kids" which feels like a classic nostalgic anthem, but then you stumble into "A.I." with Peter Gabriel—yes, the Peter Gabriel—and suddenly you’re in a glitchy, synth-heavy future that feels nothing like the band who wrote "Apologize."
The Identity Crisis of Oh My My
There’s a reason this album feels a bit fractured. Ryan Tedder was burning out. During the production of Oh My My, Tedder has since admitted he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He was traveling constantly, writing for every major artist on the planet—Beyoncé, Adele, Taylor Swift—and trying to keep his own band afloat. That exhaustion is baked into the DNA of the record.
You can hear it in the genre-hopping. One minute it's the disco-funk of "Wherever I Go," which features some of the highest notes Tedder has ever recorded. The next, it's the gospel-tinged "Choke." It wasn't just an album; it was a diary of a man trying to find a reason to keep making music.
Why the "Flop" Narrative is Mostly Wrong
If you look at the charts, people called it a disappointment. It debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200, which is great for most mortals, but for a band coming off a diamond-certified single, the expectations were astronomical. But here's the thing: Oh My My wasn't designed for the 2016 radio cycle. It was designed to be a "grower."
- It focused on instrumentation over loops.
- The band recorded in different cities around the world—Paris, London, Rio—to capture specific "vibes."
- It rejected the 3-minute pop song structure. Many tracks breathe and evolve.
Take "Future Looks Good." It starts with this beautiful, rhythmic acoustic guitar that sounds more like an indie folk track than a pop powerhouse. It builds and builds, but it never gives you that cheap, EDM drop that was so popular at the time. It’s sophisticated. It’s patient.
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Deep Cuts and the Peter Gabriel Connection
We have to talk about "A.I." because it's probably the weirdest thing OneRepublic has ever done. Getting Peter Gabriel on a track is a massive flex. It’s a six-minute odyssey about digital love and human connection. It doesn’t fit on the radio. It barely fits on the album. But it’s the heart of why Oh My My matters. It proved they weren't just a "hit factory." They were musicians who grew up on 80s art-rock and wanted to pay homage to it.
The title track itself, "Oh My My," features Cassius. It’s French House. In 2016, most American bands were terrified of sounding "too European," but Tedder leaned into it. The bassline is thick. It’s sweaty. It’s something you’d expect to hear in a basement club in Berlin, not from a band from Colorado.
The Production Secrets
The album was mixed by Serban Ghenea, the guy responsible for basically every hit you’ve heard in the last twenty years. But the direction was different here. Usually, Serban makes things sound "clean." On Oh My My, there’s a deliberate grit.
Listen to the drums on "Born." They’re compressed and heavy. They don't have that polished, "plastic" sound of mid-2010s pop. This was a reaction against the digital perfection that was taking over the industry. The band wanted to sound like they were actually in the room.
- Humanity over perfection: Many vocal takes are raw.
- Global influence: "Let’s Hurt Tonight" has a cinematic, almost folk-rock weight to it.
- Collaborations: Bringing in Santigold for "NbHD" added a layer of alternative cool that the band lacked previously.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Era
People think Oh My My was the end of OneRepublic's dominance. It wasn't. It was a pivot. After this record, the band stopped releasing "traditional" albums for a long time. They switched to a "singles-only" model for years because the process of making this 16-track monster nearly broke them.
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The exhaustion Tedder felt led to a hiatus from touring. It changed how they approached the music industry entirely. If Oh My My hadn't happened, we probably wouldn't have gotten the more relaxed, streamlined version of the band we see today. They had to get the "everything and the kitchen sink" approach out of their system.
Reassessing the Tracklist Ten Years Later
If you go back and listen now, the album aged surprisingly well. While the "tropical house" hits of 2016 sound dated and thin, the organic instruments on "Better" or the lush strings on "Fingertips" still hold up.
"Fingertips" is particularly haunting. It’s a minimalist track that relies almost entirely on atmosphere. It’s a side of Tedder’s songwriting that is often overshadowed by his ability to write massive choruses. It’s quiet. It’s vulnerable. It’s probably one of the best things he’s ever written.
The Impact on Modern Pop
You can see the influence of this "genre-less" approach in artists today. When you hear a band like The 1975 or even someone like Harry Styles jump from funk to rock to synth-pop on a single record, they’re walking the path that Oh My My helped pave. It was an early mainstream example of a band refusing to be pinned down to a single "sound" just for the sake of a cohesive Spotify playlist.
Practical Insights for the Casual Listener
If you’re revisiting the album or hearing it for the first time, don’t try to listen to it all at once. It’s too much. It’s like eating a 12-course meal.
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- Start with the "Vibe" tracks: "Wherever I Go" and "Kids" are your entry points.
- Dive into the "Art" tracks: "A.I." and "Fingertips" show the band's range.
- Skip the filler: Honestly, with 16 tracks, there are a couple that could have been B-sides. "Dream" is fine, but it doesn't move the needle like the others.
The legacy of Oh My My is its bravery. It was a band at the height of their commercial power saying, "We don't want to do the easy thing anymore." It’s messy, sure. It’s a little over-produced in spots. But it’s also the most "human" OneRepublic has ever sounded.
To truly appreciate what happened here, you have to look at it as a transition. It was the bridge between the "Counting Stars" stadium-rockers and the modern, eclectic creators they are now. It’s an album about the struggle of creativity, the weight of fame, and the desire to just make something cool for once, regardless of what the charts say.
How to Experience Oh My My Today
To get the most out of this record in a modern context, skip the standard streaming quality. This is an album that demands high-fidelity audio because the layering is incredibly dense.
- Use high-quality headphones to catch the subtle synth work in "Better."
- Listen to the live versions of "Let's Hurt Tonight"—the acoustic performances reveal the song's true emotional weight.
- Watch the music video for "Kids." It was shot in Mexico City in a single take (mostly) and captures the "global citizen" energy the band was chasing during the entire recording process.
The album isn't a failure; it's a blueprint. It shows that even in the world of ultra-polished pop, there is room for chaos, experimentation, and genuine artistic fatigue. It's a reminder that sometimes the most interesting work comes when an artist is falling apart.
Next time you hear someone dismiss this era of the band, point them toward "Choke" or "NbHD." Those aren't the songs of a band "playing it safe." They are the songs of a band trying to save themselves from the machinery of their own success. That alone makes Oh My My worth a second (or third) listen.
Check the liner notes for the list of guest musicians—the orchestral credits alone are staggering. You'll find that many of the string arrangements were handled by Wil Malone, the same guy who worked on Massive Attack’s Blue Lines and The Verve’s "Bittersweet Symphony." That level of detail is exactly why the album sounds as "big" as it does. It wasn't just a pop record; it was an attempt at a modern symphony.