A deluge of persistent thoughts tends to inundate the psyche with ethereal voices emanating from the void. The provenance of these voices remains a mystery; their significance elusive. They signal a metamorphosis – the dark night of the soul, if you will.
The introspective new single from Ocean Hope (Greek siblings Angeliki Tsotsoni and Serafim Tsotsonis), entitled “Doomsday”, is a gorgeous 80s-tinged new wave ballad, complete with a poignant sax solo by Panagiotis Thivaios. Ocean Hope’s sonic landscape exudes an enchanting blend of dream-pop romance. Drifting effortlessly through the atmosphere, their ethereal vocals meld with impassioned guitar riffs, opulent analogue synths, and evocative percussion. This sublime auditory tapestry weaves a spellbinding score for wistful reveries, moonlit escapades, and tender rendezvous, making it a quintessential backdrop for those seeking a nostalgic embrace. This haunting melody in Doomsday, however, heralds a more serious message: the soul’s passage from the abyss of suffering to the promised land of euphoria.
“Joy can’t exist but through pain,” says Tsotsoni. “Only the ones who had suffered can tell about joy and can reach the heart of it. I desperately want to have fun. That’s why this song was made. It’s a song about the reinvention of joy. Despite the inner and outer voices that keep murmuring that life is bitter and stiff and hard to live. I have two children in me. The grown up child whispers to the little child ‘I don’t want to die.’ And the little one takes the grown up’s hand, reassures them, and says:
“Do you remember when you were me? How did you plan the big escape with the other kids in the neighbourhood? Do you remember taking your bicycle, reaching the next village and yet feeling you’d reached the end of the world? That’s the secret. There stands everything. That’s the beginning of all. It’s time to live, it’s your time for freedom, it’s time to understand the world and talk about it through your song. Don’t be afraid of joy any more.”
In a dazzling display of artistry, directors Angeliki Tsotsoni and Laura Guerineau orchestrate a VHS-infused fever dream of a music video that encapsulates the imagination. With its ingenious blend of surrealism and inventive animation, the visual narrative evokes the sense of a child’s sketchbook sprung to life, haunting the viewer with a spectral embodiment of youth that implores us to recall the core values we hold dear. Shades of Martin Dupont, Oppenheimer Analysis and Xeno & Oaklander come through their sound.
Watch the video for “Doomsday” below:
Listen to the song via Spotify here, and find it on Bandcamp below:
Follow Ocean Hope:
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