Oddworld fever has officially taken hold, and Ocean Grove has never been more ready to show fans a band that truly knows who they are after coming full-circle.
Melbourne’s experimental nu metal icons Ocean Grove are set to kick off their Australian Odd Label tour tonight, reuniting the band’s original lineup on stage. They’ll be performing their 2015 EP Black Label a full decade after its release, alongside their 2024 record ODDWORLD in full. According to vocalist Dale Tanner, this run of shows marks a rare emotional milestone in their 15-year history – one that might never happen again.
“These are going to be shows like never before and maybe never again,” Tanner says.
Oddworld Fever
Fresh off a run of US shows with Thornhill, Tanner says “oddworld fever has taken over.” And Ocean Grove’s global momentum is building – fast.
But while that fever spreads like wildfire globally, ODDWORLD is all about bringing it home. It’s a proper full-circle moment that relishes in the band’s core DNA that has its roots in a bunch of teenagers recording tracks in their bedroom over a decade ago.
Tanner says one of the album’s key goals was to “reunite and solidify that full circle moment of Ocean Grove just realising who they are.” After fifteen years of curating their own unique sound through experimentation, the band has arrived at a sound that feels both natural and inevitable – “stepping up to our own destiny,” as Tanner puts it.
“I think that’s why the ODDWORLD title is so fitting, because it’s been a term that we’ve used over the years to refer to our music,” he explains. “When people have asked what the genre of our music is, it’s always been like, ‘it’s kind of a blend of things, but we call it odd.’”
From Black Label to The Rhapsody Tapes, Flip Phone Fantasy, and Up in the Air Forever, Ocean Grove have never stopped pushing their creative limits. But now, it’s time to bring everything they’ve learned and created together in a genre-bending mash up that captures the essence of what being “odd” really means, especially in the context of the band’s greatest strength: the stage.
“I’m a big believer that Ocean Grove’s greatest asset is our live performance. You come and see our show and you come to understand exactly what we’re trying to communicate with our music,” Tanner says. “You come and see us live and you get the full picture.”
That “concoction” of everything the band has been and will be is what ODDWORLD sets out to showcase. “It’s not necessarily what’s contained within [the album], but it’s a nod to the definitive sound of Ocean Grove moving forward and everything that we’ll sort of pivot from forevermore.”
And it’s not just about the sound, either. ODDWORLD represents the “wisdom and maturity” of a band built on friendship. Tanner refers to his bandmates as “brothers,” united in a “collective vision” that has only deepened over time.
In A New Light(s on Kind of Lover)
While ODDWORLD will take center stage on this tour, it’s not the only focus. Black Label is coming back in full, and Tanner reckons the tracks are “definitely going to sound better than they’ve ever [done] before.”
“In sound check whilst we’re here… we bust out a new song, and I’m standing out front and watching the band perform, and I’m hearing these songs in a completely new light,” he says. “We have so much more experience under our belts, and everyone is elevated as musicians over these last years of touring… it’s really going to sound like never before.”
Revisiting a decade-old EP in full isn’t easy. Sounds evolve, meanings shift, and lived experience brings new energy. But for Ocean Grove, returning to Black Label feels “really special.”
“I think it’s just going to be… such an emotional and exciting moment to have us all on stage again, all us brothers and mates that started in high school,” Tanner says. “Now we get to do a very special thing and come together and celebrate an EP that did so much for us as a band and really projected us to the next level.”
“If it wasn’t for that time, then we wouldn’t sort of really be here… It really stands for so much more than I think we’ve even come to comprehend.”
Trusting the Process
It’s not just the band that’s grown with Black Label, it’s the OG fans, too. Tanner says the people who connected with that record from the beginning have stayed loyal through every twist and turn.
“A lot of fans take pride in having been by our side and really unconditionally supporting and loving Ocean Grove, despite how many challenges there were to their own vision, fantasy, storyline, music taste, whatever it might be.”
That unwavering dedication hasn’t gone unnoticed. “I know it hasn’t been necessarily easy, as a follower of Ocean Grove, to sort of stick with us through every single sharp turn and unexpected news break,” Tanner admits. “It’s kind of a beautiful thing that it’s come to this where we can still all come together and celebrate music and a record that means so much to so many people.”
Brace for Impact
As for what fans can expect on the Odd Label tour, Tanner says to “brace [themselves] for quite an eccentric night.” Ocean Grove is in a place where they can fully experiment with what a live show looks like, and these shows will reflect that creative freedom.
“There’s definitely a few ideas that are getting thrown around of how we can make these shows extra special,” he says.
And while the band is pausing to celebrate the journey that brought them here, ODDWORLD is a launchpad. As Tanner puts it, the album “gave Ocean Grove a new life,” and “it’s set us up for a very exciting future.”
This tour is just the beginning of that new energy, and the first glimpse at Ocean Grove’s next era.
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