Oh! The Ocean [Transparent Blue Vinyl]

Nearly two decades on, The Wombats are still finding new ways to pull people in. What began with 2007’s A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation has grown into a catalogue that now racks up 2.5 billion streams, each record nudging them further forward rather than settling into comfort. The electro-leaning rush of The Modern Glitch turned them into Top Ten fixtures, Glitterbug quietly became a generational crossover moment thanks to the long afterlife of “Greek Tragedy”, and by the time Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life arrived, arenas felt like a natural next step. Fix Yourself, Not the World sealed it, landing them their first UK number one in 2022.

That longevity was on full display at Reading 2024, where their Radio 1 tent headline set drew huge crowds dominated by 18–24-year-olds – a reminder that their core audience has stayed remarkably consistent even as the band have evolved. That performance also marked the start of a new chapter, ushering in the era of their sixth album, Oh! The Ocean.

Written against the backdrop of Los Angeles, where Matthew Murphy now lives with his family, the record moves through social anxiety, compulsive habits, internal conflict and the quiet pressures of modern life. Murph has always been candid about depression, addiction and unease, but here there is a noticeable shift in tone: less spiralling, more reflective, edging towards acceptance and practical coping rather than collapse. The songwriting feels lighter on its feet, even when the subject matter is not.

Musically, Oh! The Ocean stretches out without losing the band’s identity. Familiar melodic instincts sit alongside glistening tech-rock, sci-fi pop textures, fuzzy futurism and flashes of bluesy rock’n’roll, with subtle nods to disco and hip-hop rhythms woven through. It is recognisably The Wombats, but with the sense of a band still curious, still pushing at the edges, and very much comfortable in their own skin.