Antytila releases “OK”, a song about what Taras Topolia learned under fire

Antytila has released a video for the song OK. It premiered on September 25, and in five days it has been viewed almost 490,000 times.

The band posted the video on its official channel.

The band calls “OK” an ironic and candid song about a state of mind: you get used to the idea that happiness and joy have to be fought for, and then you suddenly feel that it isn’t like that at all. The track will appear on a new album that Antytila is currently hard at work on.

What Taras Topolia realized at the front

The band’s frontman explains where the song came from. Some people fear being judged for their own happiness, some are ashamed of what makes them happy, and some won’t let themselves enjoy even the little things — because there is a war, because everyone is struggling, because people won’t understand.

“What I clearly realized at the front, under shelling, is this: living like that is not OK. No matter how hard things get, you shouldn’t put your life off until later, especially its small happy moments. Because tomorrow it could be cut short, and maybe you never really lived — you just got through the days,” says Taras Topolia.

The video was directed by Dmytro Shmurak, who has worked with the band before. It is built on the genuine emotions of its young cast: they fall in love, make friends, get into mischief, laugh and live each day in the here and now, without thinking about what comes next.

That contrast is what holds “OK” together. The song speaks to the grown-up habit of doubting good things — looking for a catch, putting joy on hold, feeling guilty about your own happiness. The video, meanwhile, recalls a state that came naturally in childhood, when a moment of happiness didn’t have to be explained or justified to anyone.

What’s next

Fans will hear “OK” live starting October 16 on the new nationwide tour Vdoma 2.0 (“At Home 2.0”), which will cover almost 30 cities. It continues the spring tour that ended with three big shows at Kyiv’s Palace of Sports.

Antytila is a Kyiv band led by Taras Topolia and one of the most popular in Ukraine. After the full-scale invasion began, its members joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the band’s concerts have had a charity component ever since.

Following the Palace of Sports shows, Topolia said that what mattered most to him was for people to leave happier than when they arrived. “OK” takes that same idea to its conclusion: happiness shouldn’t be put off until later.

Earlier, we reported on how Antytila moved a recording studio into the Palace of Sports for the Vdoma show.