Everything is weird and wonderful again for Melbourne oddballs Ocean Grove as they release their third studio album 'Up In The Air Forever', returning to their Oddworld universe with a living testament to maintaining a positive mental attitude.
"Our main goal with this album was to present something that was fun and inspiring, and that presented this ethos of PMA – a 'positive mental attitude'," frontman Dale Tanner explains."We wrote it in the midst of lockdown when everything around us seemed to be oh-so negative; everything around us seemed to be pulling us down into that mental sphere of not knowing what's going to happen next and that being a bad thing, being trapped inside and not being able to let your wings out and be the full creative selves that we are.
"We took the moment that we were in, and for us the cathartic antidote to what we were feeling was to be in the room together writing music that was going to make us feel better.
"But we were like, how great would it be to extend that further to our wider audience? To embolden them and give them the inspiration and the passion upon hearing this [album] to go out there and go for their goals and become the best person that they can, seeing every obstacle as positive fuel to rise above.
"That was at the core of what we were doing."
Nothing is ever static in the world of Ocean Grove, where chaos reigns and change lurks 'round every corner.
Since the release of their sophomore album 'Flip Phone Fantasy' in 2020, Ocean Grove have bid a fond farewell to guitarist Matt Henley and are now operating as a trio featuring Dale, bassist Twiggy Hunter and drummer Sam Bassal.
"It was a very natural, amicable parting of ways, and in the midst of the pandemic nobody could ever question anyone for feeling like that," Dale says of Matt's departure.
"If there was ever a time for feeling that change had to happen, that was it.
"We thought our fans had been put through enough line-up changes, why don't we give simplifying it a crack and see how it feels to present as a three-piece.
"To us it makes sense because we are the trio that pieced this album together, we're the trio that wrote pretty much the entirety of 'Flip Phone Fantasy' as well, so as the creative bundle it feels like moving forward it is a trio anyway, whether that's what's presented publicly or not."
'Up In The Air Forever' is yet another evolutionary phase for Ocean Grove, a band that seems to morph into a new form with each musical outing.
Presenting as a nu-metal quintet on their 2017 debut album 'The Rhapsody Tapes', Ocean Grove have since shed several skins and appendages to now take their current shape as a grungy, punk-rock trio.
"It is funny how when we were starting out, putting out our early releases and people were starting to associate us with that notion of 'you don't know what's going to come next'," he says.
"Whether we were manifesting it or others around us were by word association, it's like the unexpected hook turns started to come at Ocean Grove as well.
"It wasn't just the music we were creating; it was these hiccups and evolutions of the band. We had no choice but to take it in our stride and see that it was just part of the story. To resist that would have really stopped us in our tracks."
With a new album comes a fresh perspective for Dale on the catalogue of music Ocean Grove has produced so far and how he would like listeners to take 'Up In The Air Forever' on its own merits, rather than in light of previous releases.
"I think it's so crucial for fans to note that as much as this is an evolution of the past of Ocean Grove they may know, this package we've presented is very much an intentional idea in and of itself; and as a standalone idea it should be judged that way because there's no way we could deliver the most powerful, energetic ball of power had we not taken this approach," he says.
"This is a standalone album because it's setting out to do something different to anything Ocean Grove has done before and I think it deserves to be judged that way and experienced in that way."
Ocean Grove take to the road in May for the 'Up In The Air Forever' album tour, their first chance to play live in two years.
Dale says he's curious to see how all the changes that have occurred during the pandemic will impact the band's live performance dynamic. "It's harder to put into words than I thought it would be," he says of being able to play live again.
"Obviously, it's exciting but none of us had ever experienced what it's like to be held back from performing for so long and to put live music on hold.
"I know we're not going to get up there and be the same touring band we were in 2019. How could we be? But Ocean Grove is built for this, we're built to perform live. I don't think we're just a studio band."
Despite their transformative nature, Ocean Grove have never strayed far from the ideals of individualism and embracing our innate oddities and quirks as a personal strength, what Dale considers to be the band's defining legacy.
"Ocean Grove's mission and therefore legacy will be that we inspire our listeners to always embrace their individuality, to embrace whatever makes them weird or different or anything that can be perceived as negative, to embrace that as their greatest positive," he says.
"To bring out that element of the human spirt that is present in all of us. We want to embody these key principles of love one another, inspire one another and be there for one another.
"If we can inspire people in that way, we've done more than we could ever ask for."
'Up In The Air Forever' is out now.
Ocean Grove 2022 Tour Dates
Sun 24 Apr - Pop-up Shop @ Claw Creative Studios (Melbourne)Thu 12 May - Altar (Hobart)
Wed 18 May - 170 Russell (Melbourne)
Thu 19 May - 170 Russell (Melbourne)
Thu 26 May - The Gov (Adelaide)
Fri 27 May - Badlands Bar (Perth)
Wed 1 Jun - The Triffid (Brisbane)
Thu 2 Jun - The Metro Theatre (Sydney)
Ocean Grove also play Full Tilt Festival and Monolith Festival.
Full Tilt Festival 2022 Tour Dates
Sat 16 Jul - Eatons Hill Outdoor And Ballroom (Brisbane)Sun 17 Jul - Bella Vista Farm (Sydney)
Sat 23 Jul - PICA (Melbourne)
Monolith Festival 2022 Tour Dates
Sat 13 Aug - Eatons Hill Outdoors (Brisbane)Sat 20 Aug - Bella Vista Farm (Sydney)
Sat 27 Aug - PICA (Melbourne)
Sat 17 Sep - Red Hill Auditorium (Perth)
