It’s challenging to pinpoint the exact moment when you realize you’ve grown up. For some, it’s when their favorite football player is younger than they are. Others might soon say it’s when they heard a quintessential late-00s British indie rock band reveal their vulnerabilities through songs about their lead singer’s social discomfort.
“Looks like Christmas came early” – as early as Valentine’s Day – when Santa delivered Oh! The Ocean, the sixth studio album by The Wombats. Recorded during the summer of 2024 at Echo Park in LA, where Matthew Murphy now resides with his family. The album was produced by John Congleton whom has worked with the likes of Wallows, Regina Spektor and Death Cab For Cutie.
The cover features the eye of a plushie, perhaps a Wombat, starting at the ocean of which only the reflection is visible. Murphy, or Murph as he’s affectionately known, was inspired to write this album following an epiphany. He recognized that he had been living burrowed in his own mind his entire life and the sight of the ocean led him to ponder questions like: “Why are my head and body disconnected all the time? Why am I incapable at times of seeing any form of beauty in the world or in others? Why do I expect the world to conform to my will? Why do I never stop and smell the flowers?”
Sonically, the album diverges from the synth-heavy sounds that peaked with Fix Yourself, Not The World, which debuted at #1 on the UK Albums Chart. Oh! The Ocean offers a sound that feels more genuine to the band’s evolution from the late 00s. It features sophisticated grooves, crunchy guitars, and fuzzy bass lines, all complementing soothing vocal melodies.
The lead single, “Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come,” is an upbeat track with a funky groove and a catchy falsettos that playfully addresses Murph’s newfound acceptance of his antisocial nature. “I just wanted a song about the flaws of being human and being mega awkward,” he explains.
“Blood On The Hospital Floor,” the album’s catchiest track and an instant fan favorite, perfect for energizing dance floors, explores the theme of exaggerating situations. Murph sings, “I tend to think in forevers, my mood swings like the weather […] you think it’s worse than it is, looks bad but it’s easy to fix. Blood on the hospital floor.” All sort of things in life can be quite unsettling, but Murph came to the realisation that, exactly like blood on the hospital floor which is fairly standard, they are not necessarily catastrophic.
Murph often sings about his elective city of Los Angeles and America at large. In “Kate Moss,” a synth-heavy dream-pop song, he delves into the gossip of his LA neighborhood. “I Love America And She Hates Me” personifies America with whom he has a complex love/hate relationship. Supported by the ever-excellent bass lines from Tord Øverland Knudsen, the track builds momentum to an emotional chorus: “I Love America and she hates me. She gets her pleasure from smothering my dreams. And all my fear just keeps her fed, and I’ll love America ‘til the bullet’s in my head.”
With Oh! The Ocean, The Wombats have shed their quirky indie-rock facade to courageously address issues like social discomfort, internal strife, compulsive behaviors, and life’s dilemmas in America. This album features the most mature songs by The Wombats, and it wouldn’t be surprising if it achieved the same success as Fix Yourself, Not The World (2021).
The Wombats will be playing through the UK and Europe this spring before setting off to Australia in September. Make sure to catch them on tour! Dates below:
UK Tour Dates
March 18 – Motorpoint Arena – Nottingham
March 19 – The O2 – London
March 21 – Utilita Arena – Cardiff
March 22 – AO Arena – Manchester
March 23 – Connexin Live – Hull
March 25 – OVO Hydro – Glasgow
March 26 – First Direct Arena – Leeds
June 19 – Pier Head – Liverpool
EU Tour Dates
March 28 – Le Trabendo – Paris, France
March 30 – 013 Tilburg – Tilburg, Netherlands
March 31 – Paradiso – Amsterdam, Netherlands
April 1 – E-Werk – Cologne, Germany
April 3 – Theaterfabrik – Munich, Germany
April 4 – Komplex 457 – Zurich, Switzerland
April 5 – Archa + – Prague, Czech Republic
April 7 – Columbiahalle – Berlin, Germany
April 8 – Jovel Music Hall – Munster, Germany
April 10 – Rockefeller Music Hall – Oslo, Norway
April 11 – Pumpehuset – Copenhagen, Denmark
April 12 – Vasateatern – Stockholm, Sweden
April 15 – Den Atelier – Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
April 16 – Botanique – Brussels, Belgium