“Ocean Alley are on a seemingly endless ascent to the peak of their creative vision”
– Music Feeds“Enough superstar power to blast a hole into outer space.”
– Life Without Andy
Stalwarts of Australia’s music scene, Ocean Alley, have today released the crunchy new single ‘Deepest Darkness’, their first new music of 2022 and accompanied by a heart warming video.
Commanding attention from its opening riff, ’Deepest Darkness’ is a love song, about how someone can bring the best out of you, even in your darkest moments. It features accents of the hallmarks that have long-defined Ocean Alley’s psychedelic-leaning sound – from intoxicating echoing vocals to layered instrumentation, laden with fuzz and reverb. However this latest effort dials up the ferocity across each chorus, continually increasing the crunch and intensity.
Reflecting on its creation, frontman Baden Donegal shared “This song is about being so deeply in love with someone and realising how important their support can be to you… that you literally go through the deepest and darkest times together, and that unity makes you so much stronger. It’s from the perspective of imagining what it would feel like to go through life’s tough spots on your own, and having a huge appreciation for the support you receive.”
Guitarist Mitch Galbraith added, “At conception, the song was super chilled – just based off chords Lach was working at on the keyboard and some lyrics Baden wrote during early COVID. It felt right as we kept adding thickness to the chorus, so we just went with it, and now it’s really captivating and powerful. It’s obviously a very different feeling to ‘Touch Back Down’ which is uplifting and playful, whereas ’Deepest Darkness’ has a heavy mysteriousness to it, but we consciously wanted to give listeners a taste of the other vibes we’ve been experimenting with while writing new music.”
Written and directed by W.A.M. Bleakley (Courtney Barnett, DMA’s, Middle Kids), the video was shot in Port Kembla on vintage Panavision C Series anamorphic lenses, with one of the lenses used on the original Star Wars movie. The custom set of LED teeth featured throughout were created by Oscar and BAFTA award-winning prosthetics company Odd Studio.
The release of ‘Deepest Darkness’ follows Ocean Alley’s recent announcement across the New Year’s line-ups for Lost Paradise and Falls Festival. The dates will close out a huge year of touring for the beloved six-piece, which launched with a 12-date Australian tour in February – selling more than 35,000 tickets and clocking up 7 sold out shows around the country. Their recent stops in the UK and New Zealand sold over 10,000 tickets each, including shows at the iconic Roundhouse in London and Spark Arena in Auckland. Their extensive live schedule roars through Canada, USA and Europe over the coming months, having sold out in Vancouver and adding an extra night, a venue upgrade in Philadelphia and approaching sellouts in Toronto, Montreal, Boston and Brooklyn.
From Northern Beaches dive bars to sold out international tours, Ocean Alley’s evolution has been driven by an endless pursuit to push their sound and abilities to new limits. Operating as a proudly independent band, their output has always been underscored by a refreshingly chilled authenticity and relatability that has seen them achieve more than 500 million catalogue streams.
Since the release of their Gold-certified breakthrough Chiaroscuro (2018) which saw the band take the #1 spot in triple j’s Hottest 100 of 2018 for their double platinum smash ‘Confidence’, the six-piece have performed major festivals including Reading & Leeds (UK), Splendour In The Grass (AUS) and Sziget (HU), debuted at #3 on the ARIA charts for their critically acclaimed 2020 album Lonely Diamond, have received Gold certification on five singles and been nominated for 2 ARIA Awards.
Saturday 28 May – Fremantle Arts Centre, Perth SOLD OUT
NEW DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED – Waves, Wollongong
28 December-1 January – Lost Paradise, Glenworth Valley
29-31 December – Falls Festival, Colac
31 December-2 January – Falls Festival, Byron Bay
7-8 January – Falls Festival, Fremantle
