ONI have collaborated with everyone from Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe and Mark Morton to trap-metal duo City Morgue to Iggy fucking Pop in the past. Now, the Canadian hard-rock and metal project has teamed with Ben Watanabe and 555 Comic to create their coolest music video yet.
The anime-style clip serves as the visual accompaniment to ONI’s new single “Control,” and it’s the first episode in an animated series that explores the struggle within oneself. According to a press release, the series’ narrative — written by ONI mastermind Jake Oni — follows main character Jake as he struggles with both “internal and external forces” and battles against both “adversity and adversaries.”
“This song is definitely some of my best work yet,” Oni commented. “Josh Gilbert wrote the song with me, and I tracked vocals at my studio in Cayman with Joe McQueen.
“‘Control’ has a different vibe than anything I’ve written before in terms of range of vocals. The song tells a story that’s brought to life in the music video by Ben Watanabe and his team at 555 Comic. It was a huge privilege to work with Ben on this project.”
Next up for ONI, the band is set to hit the road this summer supporting Crown the Empire, with Dark Divine and Capstan. Dates are on-sale now at crowntheempireband.com/tour.
ONI 2024 tour dates with Crown the Empire:
8/2 – Mesa, AZ @ The Nile
8/3 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent Theater
8/4 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
8/6 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Depot
8/7 – Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall
8/9 – Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater
8/10 – Davenport, IA @ Capitol Theater
8/11 – Chicago, IL @ House Of Blues
8/13 – Detroit, MI @ St Andrews Hall
8/14 – Toronto, ON @ Opera House
8/15 – Montreal, QC @ Club Soda
8/17 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
8/18 – Boston, MA @ The Paradise Rock Club
8/20 – Philadelphia, PA @ TLA
8/21 – Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage
8/23 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade (Heaven)
8/24 – St Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Landing
8/25 – Ft Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution Live
8/27 – Charlotte, NC @ The Underground
8/28 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl Nashville
8/30 – Houston TX @ House of Blues
8/31 – Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
9/01 – San Antonio, TX @ Vibes Event Center