Australia’s Ocean Grove guide us track by track through their new album ‘ODDWORLD’, out now via Sharptone Records.
“OG FOREVER is kind of like the Oddworld mantra. A motto to live and breathe if you’re an OG die-hard. This track introduces the idea of the Oddworld Collective in a very direct way, highlighting a key contribution from studio member Running Touch. This track may sound familiar to some long term fans that have been paying attention. This sample has actually existed in some form for many years now, but had only ever been heard in a live setting, as opening sample to the OG set some years back. Put it this way, once you hear this number through the speakers you know you’ve entered the Oddworld.”
“CELL DIVISION was conceived in parts at the beginning of the album process and only pieced together in its entirety at the very end. There always seems to be one of these on every OG album. We’ve had the main riff written since the days of Up In The Air Forever and we also have had the chorus line in the back pocket for quite some time. Finding a way to connect these two dots proved challenging but worthwhile as this song feel like the perfect way to introduce the heavier side of OG appearing on this record whilst also sneaking a massive singalong in within the first few minutes of the album runtime.”
“FLY AWAY is another track that had been in the back pocket for OG for a while and was being written around the same time as the Up In The Air Forever era songs, yet felt like a new revitalised departure from that sound and so warranted its own separate release. We had this song written, recorded and ready to put out (music video included) for an entire year before announcing our label signing to SharpTone Records. Having to sit tight with this song was a real test of patience and belief, but as the song is all about OG reclaiming It’s identity, independence and sense of ownership moving forward, we needed to ensure we had the Oddworld spinning just right behind the scenes before pulling the trigger and launching into a new era and sound.”
“STUNNER is a favourite amongst the collective. This is another track heavily featuring the voice and contribution of Running Touch. For part of the album writing process we rented a farmhouse Airbnb down in regional Victoria for a week and the bones of this track came together in those sessions. This farmhouse was overlooking rolling green pastures and coastline with no neighbours or distractions in sight. It was a really great chance for us to spend unfiltered quality together and it was an important reminder that we are at our best and strongest as a unit when we are all together, as mates, actively collaborating and participating as a collective. We’re all really looking forward to playing this song, too. The groove of the main riff and the bounce really captures the energy that we are super excited to transpose into a live setting. If there was ever an OG song to have 10,000 people jumping in unison to, this is the one.”
“RAINDROP is an example of OG fusing a few worlds of influence and ideas together and experimenting in the process. This track was written in parts – first and foremost lyrically and conceptually by Twiggy with the verse and chorus – then Sam took the ideas, as he usually does, and putting his producer hat on, tweaked them into a format that would suit the OG sound and live performance. It’s the first time on this record that we clearly see and hear the contributions of Luke Holmes, another member of the Oddworld Collective. We made a concerted effort on this record to give Luke’s unique and recognisable voice and style its own moments to shine. His signature input cannot be denied and is part and parcel to, the OG sound. RAINDROP is a very clear example of the collaborative and experimental aspect of Ocean Grove when we’re in the studio. The best idea always win out, and if we can find a way to piece them all together, it doesn’t matter who they come from or what influence they draw upon. That’s what makes Oddworld Music so hard to define and pigeonhole.”
“NO OFFENCE DETECTED is a super fun track and interlude that was in the wheelhouse of recorded ideas very early on in writing sessions and very much inspired by the early 2000s CD experience that we wanted to capture with this record. These types of fun and random interludes were simply the norm, and gave so much character to a lot of records we grew up listening to, yet are so rare to find nowadays. We still highly value the long-form album experience and the need to create a story from start to finish, with moments to breathe and process the peaks, twists and turns. That bassline could not be denied a place in ODDWORLD, let’s face it.”
“MY DISASTER is another track that came together in a lot of ways on the farmhouse trip mentioned earlier. When we wrote and recorded the chorus there was a unanimous buzz in the air. It felt like we had in that moment captured the sound of this record and the darker, heavier, grittier, nu metal side of OG had been re-awakened. It became a chance for Dale to push himself vocally and to experiment with a style of vocal that had laid dormant since Black Label days. If we were to name one track on the album that feels the most collaborative and representative of the Oddworld Collective firing on all cylinders, this would be it.”
“LAST DANCE is a song that we are all very proud of and one we can’t wait to perform live. It captures and represents an emotive side to Ocean Grove that has existed from the beginning. It’s obviously the departure moment on the record, leaving room to explore a more heartfelt side to an otherwise hard-edged record. Lyrically this song came together one evening at the farmhouse, whilst watching the setting sun fall beneath the rolling hills. This universal visual proved to be the perfect spark of inspiration and analogy for this track. The song had been written instrumentally and it was clear that it warranted lyrics that would match the emotional weight and expanse of the music. Any sunset could be the last you ever witness, and being consciously present in the unavoidable impermanence of everything around you can be an extremely gratifying thing (a mood we attempted to capture with this track).”
“SOWHAT1999 was written to be a kind of gateway drug to OG, capturing the essence of Oddworld Music. We got to a point in completing the album that we felt we needed just one more big sounding track to accompany the likes of MY DISASTER, FLY AWAY and CELL DIVISION. There are many darker sides to this album, but with this song a more colourful, free-spirited, tongue-in-cheek side to OG naturally bleeds through and is something our fans will recognise. We had a lot of fun with this song lyrically and it feels like the kind of track that every nu metal band should have at least one of, featuring a lot of one-liners and euphemisms at the heart of the Oddworld.”
“OTP is the intersection of old friend and collaborator Adult Art Club providing a beat and bass line that simply had to appear on this record. We let Luke take full artistic control with this one lyrically and vocally. He went away and conjured some magic on this track in his own time, without any of us in the studio and with no clue what he had in mind for it. The end result was well worth being left in the dark and departing from our collective think tank for a moment. We always love writing the outro track to our albums, to leave our listener with a sense of unanswered questions. Riding off into the sunset, contemplating the journey you’ve just undertaken, expect this time it’s taking a stumble down a dark alleyway. If anything, this track takes you deeper into the OG lore like never before, leaving things on a cliff’s edge for what’s to come next in the expansion of the Oddworld.”