Liverpool’s The Wombats return this month with their 6th studio album Oh! The Ocean.
The band have teased a number of tracks in recent months including opening track Sorry I’m Late I Didn’t Want To Come and catchy Blood On The Hospital Floor. And while these tracks gave an inkling to this album’s potential flirtation with a different kind of sound, they didn’t fully convey the variety of genres Oh !The Ocean spans. While it retains that indie sound at its heart, individual tracks vary from a more pop/disco sound to a heavier rock vibe.
Honestly, The Wombat’s Matthew Murphy is possibly one of the most underrated lyricists of our time. His witty analogies slipped into the middle of indie tracks are like popping candy; you never quite know when to expect these little lyrical surprises. And this latest album, is no exception filled with little gems such as ‘steal some cash from your mother’s purse. And sign her up for a Ponzi scheme. She’ll be rich in cheap face cream’ slid into the middle of melodic verses.
Murph hasn’t been shy about his journey to sobriety over recent years, and Oh! The Ocean is tinged with elements of darkness and regret. Songs such as Kate Moss with its sober piano and heavy guitar represent this dissonance musically, whereas tracks such as My Head Is Not My Friend hit on these themes a little more on the nose.
However, no stranger to discussing demons and internal strife atop a poppy guitar track, the album hasn’t lost that signature catchiness of The Wombats. Those stick in your head riffs and choruses are still there. The album is simultaneously softer yet edgier. Different, yet the same. But then, aren’t we all?
Get the album here: https://thewombats.co.uk/
Or listen here: https://open.spotify.com/album/7jilN3HePAwS9COlqpSRR3?si=hxM5f0CeS3KXHCqmzbQFhw