2021 marks 10 years since the release of WE ARE THE OCEAN‘s brilliant second album, Go Now And Live. To celebrate the occasion Go Now And Live will be released on vinyl, in a beautiful two-colour splatter variant limited to just 500 hand-numbered copies, on 30th April by Hassle Records.
Pre-order: https://smarturl.it/WATO_GNAL
Watch ‘The Waiting Room’: https://youtu.be/NWTIgmAHFS4
Watch ‘What It Feels Like’: https://youtu.be/iw_WfN2nZ9U
Featuring long-term fan favourites ‘The Waiting Room’, ‘What It Feels Like’ and ‘Now & Then’, the LP will also include the rare bonus track ‘Distances’.
Vocalist/guitarist Liam Cromby has taken this opportunity to look back at the album’s initial release, and subsequent impact:
“Before beginning to write Go Now And Live, we had just released a 4 track EP with some of our most melodic songs so far, ‘Lucky Ones’ and ‘Playing My Heart’. We had also been on the road with bands like Funeral For A Friend, People in Planes, Mayday Parade, Canterbury, Straight Lines – bands that had big, melodic anthems. We also had a new touring crew with us at the time, which brought new music to our ears, listening to bands like The Draft and Hot Water Music. We were also listening to The Police and The Beatles a lot at the time. Inspired and hungry to grow as a band, we fearlessly set out to write our most melodic material so far. Not only were we set on writing big anthems, but we had also matured individually and collectively, and felt the need to write more direct and honest lyrics.
“We were on the road endlessly at the time and so had to take whatever writing opportunities whenever, and wherever, we could . ‘What It Feels Like’ was the first idea to come through – a song written as a conversation with myself. ‘Runaway’ was written in the front room of our tour manager’s house in Leeds (we stayed there a lot during this time). With Leeds being the home of Slam Dunk, bands from the scene were coming through all the time, most of them staying at this house. We were in the thick of it!
‘”Trouble Is Temporary, Time Is Tonic’ came a week before heading to the studio. With the material we had so far we knew we had to have a strong opener that would match with the rest of the record, and so came the opening line “I would like to say some things and get them off my chest”. We decided to record at Middle Farm Studios; tucked away from the world in the hills of Devonshire, it was a new studio run by producer Peter Miles. Pete had come to a show some months before, where we had an opportunity to chat and share ideas for the upcoming record. It was there that we decided to record with him, and so in the middle of December, snowed in, we began to record our second album, GNAL. Pete is a musical genius, whom I respected greatly, and studied from the get-go. During the recording process we still had a couple of songs to write, and subsequently it was in the studio that both ‘Now and Then’ and ‘The Waiting Room’ came to life. The latter would be an expression of the frustrations of a young man wanting to reach great heights.
Hassle had backed us and put faith in us to write and record a follow up to ‘Cutting Our Teeth’. During the first playback session the songs were blasting through the Hassle office speakers; those guys were as happy as we were at how well the songs had come together in the studio. They were excited and the band was buzzing… we couldn’t wait to release the album!
“It would catapult the band into Radio 1 playlists. I’ll never forget hearing our songs on Radio 1, it was like the scene from the movie “That thing you do.” . It also bagged us a spot on the main stage at Reading and Leeds festivals An absolute dream come true!
“Recording Go Now And Live at Middle Farm Studios is one of my fondest memories, and set us up for the band’s most successful years. Forever thankful for Pete Miles, Hassle Records and my bandmates, Dan Brown, Jack Spence, Tommy Moosh and Alfie Scully.”
Hassle Records‘ label boss Wez also took the time to look back at the album’s initial release:
“We went into the second WE ARE THE OCEAN album excited and nervous at the same time. The first album Cutting Our Teeth was (is!) great. Really good songs from a young band literally cutting their teeth.
“We met with the band at their rehearsal space in Essex a couple of times during the writing process to go through demos and make suggestions about what parts of songs worked well, what worked OK, and what didn’t. The guys in the band were always good at listening and taking onboard what we hoped were constructive thoughts.
“The debut album had done well. The band were on the rise in their scene. It sold well, but it didn’t really make a mark outside of specialist radio and press. The potential tunes we heard on the demos for the second record were a massive step up. It’s what you hope to see in a band; progress and growth.
“Peter Miles produced the album at his excellent Middle Farm studios and a visit to the studio proved to be as satisfying as we hoped. The songs were excellent.
“We collectively decided to put ‘Trouble Is Temporary, Time Is Tonic’ right at the top of the record as a statement of intent. A hard-hitting song with bollocks and melody, which was the perfect statement for what was to come on rest of the album. And the songs just keep on coming. From first single of the campaign ‘What It Feels Like’, to the excellent ‘The Waiting Room’ and onto the classic ‘Now & Then’. We felt the band had delivered an amazing album. And Radio 1 in the UK agreed, as they playlisted three of the tracks from the album. Everyone’s hard work was starting to pay off.”
Tracklisting:
A1 Trouble Is Temporary, Time Is Tonic
A2 What It Feels Like
A3 The Waiting Room
A4 Runaway
A5 Trials and Tribulations
A6 Overtime Is A Crime
B1 Godspeed
B2 Now & Then
B3 Follow What You Need
B4 Before I Die
B5 Distances
