Melbourne band Oceans return with an upbeat new single High, following their breakthrough EPs Come So Far, Live at Dangertone Studios, and a collaborative project with UK's Wilt. The song, written after the 2020/2021 lockdowns were lifted with Oceans as a full band for the first time, perfectly captures their live chemistry as a group.
High deviates from the band's usual downtempo melancholy releases by exploring the enthusiasm of embarking on a new relationship in a post-lockdown world. It's an energetic shoegazer whose modest exuberance blends well with the band's inherent wistfulness, making for an optimistic and engaging listen.
Tom Lee of Oceans describes: “High emerged during a jam in early 2021. We’d played our first few shows in early 2020 and were starting to gain confidence as a live setup. We started out with the overdriven guitar chords and soon found a bass & drum rhythm. I had been listening to a lot of melodic lead guitarists such as Bernard Sumner and tried combining that with a punk rock style of guitar and bass rhythms. The radical change in musical style was reflective of how I was feeling at the time. I was tired of listening to down tempo emotional music and felt the need to shake off the frustrations & setbacks of the previous year with a cathartic high energy jam track.”
Oceans are composed of vocalists Tom and Mayzie Lee, together with Dwayne Pearce (guitars), Joshua Strange (bass), Michael Fox (drums) and Anthony Knoepfle (synthesisers). The band's new material was recorded at Birdland Studios with renowned Australian producer Lindsay Gravina.
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