OCEAN GROVE - Oddworld (Clear With Purple Ink Spot)

A collection of songs that captures the band's sonic roots as well as their fierce evolution over the years, ODDWORLD emerges instantly as the definitive Ocean Grove record; one that pays homage to the delectable diversity of 2017's The Rhapsody Tapes while also spanning their entire catalogue and steering into exciting uncharted territory. Produced by Ocean Grove's own Sam Bassal along with creative and performance contributions from studio members Luke Holmes & Running Touch, ODDWORLD is exactly as its title suggests: beautifully chaotic, sonically kaleidoscopic and wholeheartedly one-of-a-kind.
"It says it all in the title: ODDWORLD. This is Oddworld Music. Period," shares Tanner of the upcoming album. "We've curtailed the attempts of outsiders who've tried to define our sound and pigeonhole our art for over a decade now. This is Ocean Grove's signature-defining record, the benchmark from which all future sounds project and reflect. A journey back to our experimental, unconventional roots whilst forging full-blast into a new and fearless era.
"The Oddworld Collective was in full force when writing and recording this album. For the first time in a while there was unfiltered and untamed collaboration between ALL the individuals who have, and ever will, define the Ocean Grove sound. The process of us all coming together and collaborating in the same room again was reminiscent of the early OG days when we worked on the Black Label EP and debut album The Rhapsody Tapes."
"There was a certain youthfulness and innocence that reignited when we all came together over the days and months creating ODDWORLD and this clearly coloured the musical output, reflecting the sonic and energetic influences that have inspired this band to make music all along. It was a timely reminder, now as we are aging like fine wine, that we are our strongest, as mates and as musicians, when we are working as one. Coupled with a shared goal and void of distraction or interference from the outside world, ODDWORLD is both oddly familiar and uncharted territory, and ultimately something we're all incredibly proud of."
"Creating ODDWORLD was an exercise of capturing and flowing with energy and emotions," adds Luke Holmes. "Small snippets of songs, whether a riff, chorus melody or bass line were absorbed into the OG brain matter and took control. ODDWORLD spans as many of these mind states, as it does genres. I think the album, for the most part, sits in the stasis of mourning the loss of something you never had and accepting the beauty of being doomed."
"I entered into this project with the mindset that I was a conduit to express the dark experimentalism of the Oddworld. Proudly, I can say that when I worked with Sam in the studio and closely collaborating with Twiggy, Dale and Running Touch we were successful in firstly loving the creative process, and secondly delving deeper into our psyche to better paint a picture of life in the Oddworld."

Vinyl release of Ocean Grove - Oddworld (Clear With Purple Ink Spot). Released through ODDWORLD RECORDS and available on LP.