5.30PM, a dwindling
Melbourne Spring’s day, Eastern Freeway
The
car turns, casually veering around the wide bend in an elegantly industrial
arc.
In
the once blazing, now flickering orange glow that bathes the horizon, the
omniscient sunshine steadily illuminates the distant peaks.
Then
it begins.
The
up-beat, almost reminiscent strum, the combination of cords, that acts as a
dopamine-stimulant upon the teenage listener’s brain. As the freeway bends to
come into view with the setting sun outlining the Melbourne CBD backdrop, the
riff is angelic.
“Laying
on my back again”.
A
soothing voice, a welcoming embrace. The guitar dips, eliciting the crest of
the wave before the voice dives once more.
“Couldn’t
get up”.
The
simplicity of lyrics idealises the mindset of the writer- lying exhausted,
devoid of energy, yet purely blissful with the world. A Sunday morning, the
bed, the tickling summer breeze. The voice is high pitched- not quite Brandon
Flowers or Matty Healy like, but relatable. It’s the contradictory nature of
being high in tone yet oddly relaxing, removing the body of stress with crystal
clear pronunciation.
As
the music flows along, the same sound reverberates. The idea of the setting
sun, the hopes of dreams, the simplistic enjoyment of indulging with friends
and waking up the next morning “faded” and “wasted”. It’s cheeky in its
self-awareness, yet confident in its entitlement and pleasure. It’s the sound
that doesn’t just resonate so strongly with a teenager in a developed country
enjoying the everyday nature of industrial evolution- it could easily be
inspiring and galvanizing before technology existed, in a primeval pocket of
forest where the trees part and the river flows.
Australian
delinquents Sticky Fingers frolicked
with this sound, yet their alcohol exuberance and wish for a rock and indie
substance couldn’t quite represent this. If they were the depiction of the
inconsistency of a sweaty summer, then this masterpiece by Ocean Alley is the end of the day, sitting on the beach with loved
ones drinking an icy refreshment and peacefully watching the soothing rhythm of
the breaking waves. This is pure Zen, a meditative state that is what the sunny
season is all about, and what fuels people through hardships and difficulties.
This is the art of healing and revelling.
And
ultimately, The Comedown by Ocean Alley, in all of its simplicity,
is a sound that represents a band full of self-awareness and knowledge, thus
never failing to encourage the soothing need for the brain to relax. I slowly
rest my head back, feeling the reliable seat embrace me as the freeway
continues, the city glistening ahead as the peaceful sunset transitions into vibrancy
of night.
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