All Aboard Ocean Alley's Love Balloon

Our favourite Aussie rockers have today announced a new album titled 'Love Balloon', as well as treating us to the title track.

This announcement herald's the arrival of surf-rock outfit Ocean Alley's fifth studio album. The six-piece - comprised of Baden Donegal (vocals), Angus Goodwin (guitar), Lach Galbraith (keys/vocals), Mitch Galbraith (guitar), Tom O’Brien (drums) and Nic Blom (bass) - have for the first time linked up with super-producer Nick DiDia. His former collaborators include Bruce Springsteen, Powderfinger and Rage Against The Machine, meaning the group are in excellent company.

We've already heard 'Tangerine' and 'Left Of The Dealer' from the upcoming project, and they're both sounding excellent. It's everything Ocean Alley is loved for, and the same can be said for title track 'Love Balloon', also released today. It really is an infectious number, that inspires mental images of sunshine, waves and good times. Anchored by an irresistible groove and a shimmering Nile Rodgers-inspired guitar riff, the track threads an unexpected touch of disco flair along its pulsating bassline.

Speaking on the new single, the band said “Love Balloon stands out as the song that best encapsulates the direction we were heading with the whole record. Even though it was recorded toward the end of the process, by that point we were really finding our groove - dialling into the sounds we wanted to use and feeling fully comfortable with Nick [DiDia], our producer”.

They continued, “We sat in a room together for two days getting so frustrated because we knew there was something good in there - we just couldn’t make it click. Nick said, ‘This is missing something crucial. This song doesn’t really know what it wants to be yet.’ Then I had this moment where I said, ‘What if we make the chorus the verse?’ We played it through like that and straight away, it just worked. That was the lightbulb moment”.

The only bad news is we have to wait till 19th September to hear the full album. However, something excellent follows shortly after, because on 27th September, Ocean Alley are playing their biggest headline show ever at the one-and-only Ally Pally. This is due to be an INCREDIBLE night, and we can guarantee that Oculate will be in attendance.

Tickets are now on sale, and can be found here.