Invercargill boy turned Aucklander Gary Dalhousie and his band of merry men that collectively call themselves Ocean Beach, return with new single Come Around. It’s been out since 1st August, but as I’m currently on borrowed hardware due to my Steampunk-era laptop running out of firewood, I’m only now giving my words of subjective thought on it. Sorry about that guys.

Bringing a very personal experience to the fore, Gary explains the meaning of the single in the EPK: “Walking home from a party one night my partner lovingly told me what she needed from me. We ended up splitting up soon afterward but that memory stayed with me. This song was written during the relationship hiatus. I realised the relationship was very special and I had a lot more to give. ‘(I will wait for you to) Come Around speaks to resonating on the same vibe and to continue to increase the frequency (we’ll get high….)’. Which we have done and are doing. Happy ending.”

The melody is quite atmospheric and emotive, yet has an easy-going element to it that draws you in and gets you humming the anthemic chorus in no time. It’s a mid-tempo rock-based number in what I would call Driving Rock, i.e. go for a drive and stick this one. It’s the stuff that you find keeps you company on a long solo trip. You’ll take some lyric and will smile to yourself about some long-forgotten memory of years gone by that suddenly finds a spark of recollection. It’s that type of song.

Ocean Beach has shown us that they can play. They can certainly write a good, catchy tune. The vocals are strong, a full baritone that doesn’t warble or run out of puff. Guitars are prevalent but no shredding: this band composes per note, not per scale and root. The ivories are lightly tinkled and given a nice spread of effects, sitting unobtrusively in the mix. The drums and bass are again well coordinated, rich and velvety. Happies to the band for their performance and to Dale Cotton for a smooth production.

I’ve not been paying much attention to commercial or regional radio recently, but I hope this has been picked up this month. I know the guys have a great advocator for them, so I would assume this is the case. It’s on Bandcamp, and on Spotify too, so if you’re an Ocean Beach fan, or you like the sound of what I’ve alluded to here, why not pop into the platforms and give them some love? Quality and professional. Huge thumbs up.