Oceanator’s third album Things I Never Said is a solid release that shows her delivering another tight collection of songs that explore life, perspective and relationships through a singular theme.
The majority of the album’s songs have a sonic minimalist sound, reminiscent of the Seattle grunge and alternative scene, Oceanator with her voice, drums and guitar.
Stand out songs include Goodbye, Goodnight, A Crack in the World, Heartbeat, Walk With You and Sunshine.
One of the most infectious songs on the album is A Crack in the World, where Oceanator helps listeners reflect on life and its expectations:
“There’s a crack in the world / and we’re all hanging on, hanging on trying not to fall through the void / but sometimes there’s only so much you can do / and it’s hard to have big dreams but it’s / hard to let those dreams die out, too”
Hide Away is a song about a failing relationship that just won’t seem to work out. Oceanator ponders on the ending that was inevitable:
“You were slipping away / and there was nothing I could do about it / and you were getting worse every day / and all I could do was watch and wait / you would try to smile through it all / but sometimes you couldn’t manage that / and I was no help at all”
Although Oceanator sings a lot about life and what doesn’t work, I Would Find You is about that relationship you’ve been waiting for, and what you would do to stay in that relationship. Songs like Cherish the Day by Sade come to mind, when Oceanator sings:
“So if the world went to hell tomorrow / I would follow you / I would stay with you / and if anyone tried to hurt you / I would keep you safe / I’d keep them away / to the end of the world together / I will stick with you / I’ll never leave you / and if you can’t go any further / I will carry you / If you need me to”
Things I Never Said is a quality minimalist rock album that would do well in your collection or your playlist. Oceanator is her generation’s own therapist with a guitar. Oceanator’s songs prove you don’t always have to have the answers to your problems in order to deal with them. Sometimes it’s important to just talk about the things you’ve never said.