The Observatory's sixth album, "Oscilla", is described by the band as "the imagined swing of our imperfect times", featuring "vibrations of shifting rhythms, synth bass space, oscillators and abused guitars". The four songs on "Oscilla" were developed on a tour with Norwegian noise band MoE in Norway in 2012 and Italy in 2013, then tested on the road during a Southeast Asian tour in October and November 2013, culminating in a divisive performance at St. Jerome's Laneway Festival in Singapore. The lyrics deal with political tumult and according to the band's lyricist Leslie Low, reflect "ommon people like us making a stand. Living off the grid in some way or another, (offering) criticism of existing paradigms, alternatives, the view from the ground up". The title track makes reference to Zomia, historian Willem van Schendel and James C. Scott's term for the huge mass of mainland Southeast Asia that has historically been beyond the control of governments based in the population centres of the lowlands.