California's Olivia O'Brien is a vocalist with a bent toward dance-oriented, electronic pop and emotive balladry. Born in Thousand Oaks, California in 1999, O'Brien grew up singing from a young age and taught herself to play guitar and piano. By her teens, she was writing her own songs, as well as posting cover songs online. Eventually, she caught the ear of Los Angeles-based singer/rapper/producer Gnash, whose song "Disposable" she had covered. He requested to hear her original material and they began collaborating. In 2015, they posted their version of her song, "i hate u, i love you," online. The following year, Gnash included the song on his debut EP, us, and released it commercially as a single. It immediately caught on, charting in numerous countries and hitting number one in Australia. In August of 2016, O'Brien released her debut solo single "Trust Issues." Several more singles followed including "Root Beer Float," featuring Blackbear, and "Find What You're Looking For."
Matt Collar
AllMusic.com
