Oceanless - Jaded (self-released)

Rock music has been with us for a long time and is, arguably, the most well-established musical genre of all. But, having found its standard form many decades ago, it presents a challenge for the music writer looking to work in such a realm, and it is this. How do you stick to the tenets and traditions of the genre and still find a way of offering something new? It’s a problem for sure, but one that Oceanless appear to have cracked, certainly if their latest single, “Jaded”, is anything to go by.

So, if rock music is all about pace and power, volume and velocity, how do you do something new in that regard? Well, in the case of “Jaded,” the band adds shimmering indie sonics and anthemic lifts to the expected rock groove to create music that is that rarest of things—big AND clever.

As it ebbs and flows between more delicate acoustic lulls and explosive indie-rock highs, between spaciousness and searing sonics, it creates a wonderful dynamic, one that relies less on pace and more on poignant yet explosive power. It isn’t the speed that is impressive here but the shape, the textures, the layering, and the tone—all of which combine to make for an intricate yet no less energetic sound.

And, although this is not often the way in rock music, the message is as important as the music. Born of the band’s collective frustrations with the music industry, the ever-growing divide between the passionate grassroots scene and the clinical, frenzied money trench, cash-till-ring of the commercial world, “Jaded” is a song for any music maker who has thought to themselves, “what’s the point of carrying on” but knows that they must keep going anyway.

If you are part of that growing collective, you have just found your new rallying cry and anthem for when we collectively storm the barricades. Who’s with us?

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