Bush release new single ‘Heavy is the Ocean’
It’s a very 1990s 24 hours over here at Far Out HQ. We’ve already discussed The Smashing Pumpkins and their new album ATUM, and coming up tomorrow will be the tale of how Blind Melon fell victim to MTV’s embrace of the alt-rock boom. Now, we have yet another grunge-adjacent act coming up in our collective news feeds: British alt-rockers Bush and their new song, ‘Heavy is the Ocean’.
I don’t know if I’ve got on record about it in the past, but I am not a Bush hater. Like millions of other CD buyers, I happen to enjoy 1994’s Sixteen Stone, or at least the five top-shelf singles that came from that record. I also happen to think that their follow-up, 1996’s Razorblade Suitcase, is pretty solid. Anybody whose reaction to major success is to hire Steve Albini to be their engineer is fine by me.
‘Heavy is the Ocean’ doesn’t really do anything for me personally, but it’s a solid post-grunge track from a band that’s not exactly on too many people’s radars these days. It has more than a passing resemblance to another ’90s act and their most recent album – American sludge nerds Hum and their fantastic 2020 LP Inlet. ‘Heavy is the Ocean’ has that same brain-beating detuned riffage thing going on, even if it’s less sprawling and more generic than what Hum achieved.
“It really sets the tone and the gravitas of the album,” band leader Gavin Rossdale explained the new song in a statement. “I love the power of the ocean. It’s mesmerising to me. It feeds your soul. The song uses the imagery I love. This one definitely represents The Art of Survival.”
Oh yeah, I almost forgot, ‘Heavy is the Ocean’ is the second preview single from Bush’s upcoming ninth studio album, The Art of Survival. Thanks, Gavin! The previous single, ‘More Than Machines’, is pretty much the same song, give or take a few electronic flourishes. I prefer to leave them, and that’s why I prefer ‘Heavy is the Ocean’.
Check out the visualiser for ‘Heavy is the Ocean’ down below. The Art of Survival is set for an October 7th release.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out New Music Newsletter
All the latest New Music from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.