On September 9, the Danish duo The Oceans will release their debut album 'Love Above All'. The album comes in the wake of a number of singles that have seen attention in both Danish and international magazines as well as lots of radio airplay.

Since 2018, their noisy chaos and catchy melodies have been praised in major Danish music magazines like GAFFA and Soundvenue while receiving airplay on an array of radio stations, all the while the tour bus has hit milestones such as Spot Festival, Uhørt and Offspring Festival in Tivoli.

Many people have come to know The Oceans for the noisy and guitar-driven shoegaze that marked the EPs "I" and "II", which were released in 2018 and 2019. However, recent single releases have taken the band in a new direction.

The duo, which consists of Dan Joe and Linus Valdemar, believed that a breath of fresh air was needed to challenge the habitual thinking that had gradually crept into the studio in Vanløse. Therefore, the choice of producer fell on Noah Rosannes (Nelson Can, Johan Kolstrup, Ida Gard), who really knows how to shake the things up. A whole album was to come out of that collaboration. An album where love is the overriding element.

Greatest of all is love
Already on the intro song 'In The Beginning', the new sonic direction of The Oceans is announced, when the Middle Eastern intervals of the synth fill the speakers, as a foretaste of the upcoming 34 minutes.

We quickly move on to the first single 'Did You Know'. Here you immediately sense that the band has turned down the fuzz guitars, but that they certainly haven't forgotten how to write an instantly catchy pop melody, which is led by Linus Valdemar here.

From there we move on to 'Time To Say Goodbye' with Dan Joe's deeper and more hoarse vocals in the lead. Although at first glance it sounds like a breakup song, it's actually not the case, he explains:
"It's not written for a girlfriend, but it's more about all the relationships in life - both with friends, family and colleagues where you occasionally may need a fresh start", he elaborates.

'Listen Kids' is one of the more risky songs on the record, says Linus and points to bands such as The Kills and The Jesus and Mary Chain as the major sources of inspiration for the song. In terms of production, it is like a rose that opens layer by layer and constantly reveals new details in it’s synth-driven universe.

As soon as the reverb tail from the outro has subsided, we are introduced to the album's title track. 'Love Above All' immediately clings to one's inner ear, and according to the band, the song is the sound of an eternal summer evening you wish never ended.

With an optimistic bass line that will probably get even the laziest hips in gear, the foundation is laid for a text about altruism, which has been a consistent mantra in the process of writing and recording the record. "We live on a fragile planet together, and we have to try to be united about it", say the two bandmates, who now meet in a unison duet on the album's next song.

On 'Young & High', The Oceans revives the wildness of youth - personified in the story of a woman. With a stubborn guitar riff, the song kicks off with a bang. An equally insistent hi-hat soon follows, and together they form the driving force of this super-energetic pop song.

On the record's only true ballad, 'Relationship Revisited', Marie Fjeldsted joins the band. Here, Linus and Marie, who are also a couple in real life, merge in a love story that exudes both melancholy and nostalgia.
Here, too, the sound wizard Noah Rosannes has been given free rein in the production, which has resulted in a somewhat unconventional hi-hat role, which is actually a joke monologue, which is cut into small pieces and then assembled into a rhythmic role.

'I Am Your Man' was written in the very last part of the production phase, explains Dan Joe: “I felt that a banal song about seduction was missing. The track actually went at double tempo, but it only really came together when we found an old drum machine, which laid the heavy hip-hop beat that you can hear on the song now.”

It is not exactly seduction that is the theme of the record's next song 'Love You Forever, Hate You More Than Ever' - in fact it is a conversation between the two bandmates. You can call it a discussion song, where the two frontmen alternately talk about the frustrations that can arise in bands and friendships, but which fortunately are always overshadowed by the love for each other. Something that is framed by the repeated punchline "in the end it starts and ends with love" on the closing song 'In The End'.

The Oceans release ‘Love Above All’ on September 9 and will be touring Germany in the fall.