“The song ‘AIN’T NO WAY’ turns a mere passing thought into a hit in the R&B genre, expressing the sensation of being completely absorbed by someone even when all you’re doing is just driving around with them on your mind.”
What is interesting about OoO’s “AIN’T NO WAY” is the way the song appears to have developed naturally. It all started with something very ordinary—that is, OoO circling a random block while thinking about a certain girl. This simple instance of fixation becomes the emotional core of the song and provides it with a personal origin point which is what makes the final piece seem immediate rather than excessively constructed. There is a playful contradiction inherent in the situation—the context is casual but the emotions are by no means casual. OoO then turns that state of mind into a song featuring a catchy hook and a straightforward emotional appeal. The impact of GIVEON is apparent in OoO’s way of approaching English-language R&B, especially in the emphasis on emotion and straightforward storytelling. Although OoO had first created music in Danish, he discovered a new kind of creative freedom when using English, saying that the language just seems more enjoyable to work with. This shift appears to be significant for the identity of “AIN’T NO WAY”, the song seeming less interested in proving a point and instead more aimed at conveying a particular atmosphere. The idea has a conversational tone, as if the listener has been suddenly placed straight into the artist’s thoughts while that girl is present for every mile of the drive.
The process of making the recording was just as unorthodox. OoO carried out the recording in a studio in Fredericia with a childhood friend from third grade acting as the recording engineer, even though this friend had no formal musical training. Rather than being a disadvantage, this lack of experience appears to have added to the spontaneity of the session. As OoO said, “Everything just clicked”—that uncommon sensation when a song seems to take on its form very quickly. It is clear why this is important in the case of this track: since the emotion is meant to sound natural, so too did the recording process follow that same instinct. Since it serves as the opening track of a forthcoming EP, “AIN’T NO WAY” also gives a preliminary insight into the artist’s broader creative direction. The song will form part of an intimate listening event in Copenhagen, where OoO intends to show the full EP. For the moment, however, the single can stand on its own: it expresses a personal thought, deals with a girl who won’t leave the artist’s head, and is a catchy song that transforms that moment of reflection into something that listeners can easily get involved with.
English