Release Date: 15th March 2018
Label: Unsigned
Genre: Alternative
Made up of Zach Silver on vocals, Tom Hollands and Connor Hyde on guitar, Jack Warren on bass and James Gillingham on drums, Oceans are a five piece alternative band from London and Brighton. Following the release of their singles ‘On & On’, ‘Electrified’ and ‘What You Did To Me’, they have returned with a new EP.
Far From Composure begins with the instrumental intro of ‘Ctrl’, complete with backing harmonies and some nice guitar riffs thrown in. ‘Skin’ sets off with a slower pace before moving on to further heavy instrumentals.
‘Surrender’ brings a repetitive beat throughout, whereas ‘Running Away’ features a softer intro and a nice arrangement both vocally and instrumentally. ‘Adapt’ is a wholly instrumental track that kicks off with an eerie static sounding intro, and although it is the shortest one on the EP, I didn’t find anything overly exciting about it and it failed to hold my attention.
‘Dopamine’ shows us that Oceans definitely have a variety of pop influences as shown rather strongly in this track. The band released a music video for ‘Dopamine’ in September last year, which you can find below.
I’ve noticed that so far all the tracks on this EP have a lot of similarities and that there isn’t much variety to set them apart. The EP’s final track, ‘Out Of This World’, includes a catchy drum beat, but again, does not stand out from the songs previous to this one.
Oceans definitely have a certain something, but personally are not a band that struck me as anything more than any other in the alternative scene. There were no tracks on the EP that stood out to me as I felt that they were all songs that I’d heard before. It could be vocalist Zach Silver’s accent or personal vocal style, or maybe even production after recording, but personally, I found myself struggling to understand the lyrics throughout the EP. This was something I felt that was disappointing as the band’s instrumental style was very impressive. I didn’t enjoy this EP as it didn’t particularly stand out to me, however, I would listen to this band again to see what else they can bring to the table.
Recommended Track: Skin
Rating: 5/10
To hear more from Oceans, take a look at their Bandcamp, Facebook, Twitter & YouTube.