Oceanator – “First Time” & “Be Here”
Elise Okusami’s emo-adjacent project Oceanator will return with a new album this summer called Everything Is Love And Death. Today, she’s previewing it with a pair of singles called “First Time” and “Be Here.”
Renowned studio rat Will Yip — who also produced the record — plays drums on “First Time,” a punky kiss-off about pining over someone you really don’t want to be pining over. Meanwhile, Okusami performed every instrument on “Be Here,” a dreamier, more reverb-y number that seems to ask: What if this pining could actually turn into something? Okusami explains more in a press release:
“First Time” and “Be Here” very much live in the same world for me. They’re describing the same day – one kind of in the afternoon, and one overnight. First Time is what I’ve been calling my Thin Lizzy song, with the harmonizing guitar riff. And Be Here is a little more floaty, synth-y, less in your face-y. Will Yip played drums and my brother Michael played bass on “First Time,” but Be Here is all me on everything! It was super fun to record all those parts and have the song come together. Even though they sound different I really wanted them to live together, and I’m stoked to be releasing them as a double single.
Hear both tracks below.
Everything Is Love And Death arrives 8/30 via Polyvinyl.