The Breakdown
‘Come So Far’ is an immersive and epic debut from Melbourne’s Oceans (the moniker of Thomas Lee): four tracks that shimmer and sparkle with an iron spine and a dreamy disposition. Lee says of the EP:
This is my debut EP recorded for my solo project Oceans. It encapsulates the last 5-7 years of my musical journey influenced by shoegaze elements from the 90s and modern ambient electronica.
The result is unique blend of styles that form a perfect whole.
Opening title track ‘Come So Far’ has a bright bounce and tone with its splashing guitars and layered choral vocals that are hypnotic, with the repeated melodies, creating a ghostly ambience.
Single ‘Break My Fall’ is an immersive and delicious track with subtle switches between a shoegaze drone and a dreamy pop fugue. Lee’s voice haunts in the distance beneath a simmering razor-sharp guitar and synth wash, infused with a detached melancholia and indelible melodies.
Lee says of the track:
Break My Fall was a last minute addition to the EP which came out from a jam prior to the studio sessions. Normally I’d write songs in the small hours of the night, obsessing over every detail so it was incredibly liberating having this song come about organically. The song actually started out as a joke with my drummer but kept coming back to that chorus riff and eventually wrote a song around it. The song is a real throwback to the classic shoegaze sound of the 90s with fuzzed out guitars, whispery vocals and simple but timeless snare fills. Break my fall is about having someone in your life support you through your ups and downs and makes sense of the world despite all your insecurities.
A gurgling electro spine in ‘Back to the Start’ recalls something more like Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: steady, imposing and celestial electro-pop.
Final track ‘Disappearing’ is a dense shoegaze classic with its wall of sound, screaming, wailing guitars and distant disembodied vocals.
‘Come So Far’ is a shimmering delight that delivers something that, while arctic and chilling, is enveloping and immersive: flashes of sparkling electro-pop cloth threaded in between a shoegaze skeleton and a dream pop cape. Elegant and melancholic magic.
You can get the EP via Ditto through the link below:
Come So Far EP Launch Show – The Tote, Melbourne
Thursday, 27 May 2021
Presale: $7+ BF
On the door: $10
Support: TBC
Tickets on sale now via The Tote
Feature Photograph: Grace Hunder
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