We have traversed the shimmering Oceans before with their antipodean brand of glittering shoegaze, and the band (formerly the solo project of Thomas Lee) has now collaborated with solo artist Mayzie (New Zealand born, Melbourne based Mayzie Lee who we have also covered separately) in a an album entitled ‘Luminosity’ due out on 5 October 2024. By way of introduction, they have today released the title track as a single, and it is an enticing slice of scything, vibrant music.
Thomas Lee says of the collaboration:
I think after touring the previous album a lot we were keen to step into a different direction. I was really excited about having Mayzie step to the front as our vocalist as well as providing lyrics to our music, which really let me delve deep into the production of the guitars, synths and any other elements I wanted to explore.
This track and the album also coincides an extensive tour covering Europe, the UK and Australia, so there is much excitement ahead.
The track ‘Luminosity’ sparkles with a radiance fitting the name. A thread of melancholy weaves through the vocals, distant and velvet as the guitars dapple and sparkle like stars in the firmament before a muscular wall of noise sweeps through like a southerly buster, ebbing and flowing. The sound is epic and as wide and expansive as the outback desert. A background chorus adds a golden filigree to Mayzie’s ethereal, almost ghostly vocals.
This is a perfect amalgam of steely spined shoegaze and electric dream pop, all within the one track:
‘Luminosity’ (the single) is out today and available to download and stream via all the usual sites.
Ahead of the album release, Thomas Lee says:
I was really listening to a lot of cheesy 80/90s pop when I wrote these songs. I wanted it to sound like someone dug up an obscure Italo-disco track from decades back and reworked it to make it sound like something entirely different whilst maintaining the aesthetic of its origins.
Mayzie adds:
The mission statement was simple really; to try and harness our complementary skills into a record that was a bit more pop leaning than our separate previous works. I’m really drawn to good songwriting. The ability to tell a good story in an interesting way, through both the instrumentation and vocals is the golden egg!
The album was recorded at Birdland Studios. It was produced, mixed, mastered by Lindsay Gravina (Jet, Magic Dirt, Adalita, Rowland S. Howard).
Mayzie and Oceans will be hitting the road in the next couple of months – tour details are below and you can get tickets here.
Rhiz Bar Modern
Vienna
September 13
Retreat Hotel
Melbourne
October 5
Muckefukke Konzerte
Holzminden
September 14
Barwon Club Hotel
Geelong
October 11
La Pointe Lafayette
Paris
September 18
Bendigo Records
Bendigo
October 18
Hard Rock House
Helsinki
September 19
The Eastern
Ballarat
October 19
Jam Café
Nottingham
September 25
Towradgi Beach Hotel
Wollongong
October 25
33 Oldham
Manchester
September 26
Adamstown Bowlo
Newcastle
October 26
Biddle Bros
London
September 27
Nighthawks
Melbourne
October 31
Tactile BOSCH
Cardiff
September 28
Tanswells Hotel
Beechworth
November 2
Red Hill Hotel
Castlemaine
November 8
Feature Photograph: Michael Fox
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