Photo credit: Paul Tobin
From their upcoming album ‘Everything, When Said Slowly’ out Feb 7th
Pre-save the album: https://slinky.to/EverythingWhenSaidSlowly
Stream ‘Australia’ – Out Now: https://slinky.to/Australia
Building on the folk-rock essence of their debut, The Ocelots are excited to soon release their highly anticipated second album, Everything, When Said Slowly, set for release 7th February.
For their third single, The Ocelots brothers present a definitive glimpse of their indie-rock influence, as ‘Australia’ brings the sonic shapes of The Shins and early Kings of Leon into centre focus, while framing the picture with a more personal theme of Irish migration.
“We tried to capture that feeling of leaving and dealing with the self-adjustment involved. A certain apathy you grow to those you love around you when you know all you want to do is move. In our pursuit of writing something honest and cathartic, we created something many people can relate to.”
The twins, having toured extensively around regional Australia and Tasmania, relate back to the number of people they met living there in search of work. ‘Australia’ highlights their reflections of their touring years as a folk duo.
“The song was the sum of scrapped and recycled parts, feelings and concepts. My first rule was to write something uncomfortably honest no matter what, regardless of whether it’s relatable. I’m an anxious sleeper, and sometimes I wake up dishevelled and the haziness doesn’t clear till later in the afternoon. I started documenting that experience, dropping in biographical clues into my songs.”
Recorded at Orphan Recording Studios in their hometown Wexford, created with decade-long collaborators Cillian Byrne, Lorcan Byrne & Conor Cunningham, what feels like a song about leaving is inevitably a homecoming to a familiar soundscape.
The Ocelots are twin brothers Ashley and Brandon Watson from Wexford, now residing in Leipzig, Germany. Building on the folk-rock essence of their debut, the duo are excited to announce the release of their highly anticipated second album, Everything, When Said Slowly, set for release 7th February 2025. This album unveils a richer, more expansive sound, masterfully produced by long-time collaborators Cillian and Lorcan Byrne (Ailbhe Reddy, Susan O’Neill). The narrative woven throughout the album explores themes of Irish migration, the perception of time, love, and the simple joys of cycling.
“The title Everything, When Said Slowly is a response from an old Irish man’s perspective on people leaving our hometown of Wexford over the years past. He said it was a very long time since they left, but not much time if you said it fast. I found it wonderful and profound, but also deeply moving and fitting for the album’s sentiment. How time flies or drags depending on what you’re experiencing, especially when it’s time in a place you said goodbye to.”
Blood harmonies are the centre of The Ocelots’ sound – imperfections of a voice breaking or a tempo shifting. Recorded live in Orphan Recording Studios, by Gavin Glass (Lisa Hannigan, BellX1, David Keenan, John Grant, Villagers), the band’s performances help form a driven, energetic scrapbook, coloured by flutes, synths, harmonica and harmonium. The twin brothers blend absurdity and sincerity in an array of literature-inspired musings. Open tunings and clawhammer banjo bring country-folk contemplation, but the imagery is very much urban, living outside of the romanticised glaze of wood cabins and cottage-core nostalgia.
“Apart from recording the majority of the album in an intense window of three days, we had a long overdubbing phase back in Leipzig. We were able to be more creative with the final touches. I worked in a bookstore and inside we had this beautiful noisy harmonium. I had a lot of fun with that, and I was in love with the sound. Brandon worked day after day on lead guitar parts, harmonica parts and arrangements for cello lines or extra harmonies. It took way longer than it should have, but it was worth it”.
Stream ‘Australia’ – Out Now: https://slinky.to/Australia
Pre-save the album: https://slinky.to/EverythingWhenSaidSlowly
TOUR DATES:
To celebrate the launch of the album, The Ocelots will perform live shows across Ireland, The UK, and Germany.
See them at:
IRELAND:
Feb 7 – The Jeremy Hynes Room – Wexford Opera House
Feb 8 – The Seantí – Waterford
Feb 12 – The Black Gate – Galway
Feb 13 – The Commercial – Limerick
Feb 14 – Whelan’s – Dublin
Feb 15 – The Duncairn – Belfast
Feb 16 – Sandinos – Derry
Feb 20 – Music in the Park – Kenmare
Feb 21 – Coughlan’s – Cork
Feb 22 – Levis’s bar – Ballydehob
Feb 23 – Prim’s Bookshop – Kinsale
UK:
Feb 26 – Newport (Le Pub)
Feb 27 – Frome (HydeAway)
Feb 28 – Worcester (St. Swithun’s Church)
Mar 1 – Birmingham (Sunflower Lounge)
Mar 2 – Sheffield (Cafe #9)
Mar 4 – Leeds (Oporto)
Mar 5 – Manchester (Castle Hotel)
Mar 6 – London (Green Note)
Mar 7 – Brighton (Folklore Rooms)
Mar 8 – Winchester (The Arc)
Mar 9 – Southbourne (Wight Bear)
Mar 11 – Cambridge (Portland Arms)
GERMANY
Jan 31st – Rough Trade Records Instore – Berlin
April13 – Bad Kotziting
April 23 – Hamburg
April 24 – Berlin
April 25 – Leipzig
May 11 – Munich
May 15 – Cologne
May 17 – Dresden
May 18 – Frankfurt
https://theocelots.com/
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