Ocean Alley: Low Altitude Living

Ocean Alley has landed on home ground after their whirlwind global tour. As they get ready for a busy festival season, we caught up with guitarist Mitch Galbraith to chat about the band’s fourth album, Low Altitude Living, the new era of Ocean Alley’s sound and their debut at Heaps Good Fest.

Words by Zara Richards

Produced by long-term collaborator Callum Howell, Low Altitude Living evokes sun-drenched surf trips in 12 smooth, sophisticated and layered songs. While their fourth studio album doesn’t stray far from the band’s hallmark psychedelic surf rock, it marks an exciting step forward for the six-piece outfit.

Speaking to guitarist Mitch Galbraith, it’s clear Ocean Alley is comfortable exploring this new space. “We give a lot of ourselves away in this album,” he says. “We’re pretty proud of the songs – it’s some of our best work.”

The band has been on an upward trajectory since they dropped their album Chiaroscuro in 2018, with the sultry ‘Confidence’ taking out the top spot in that year’s Triple J Hottest 100. Since then the six musicians – Baden Donegal (vocals, guitar), Angus Goodwin (lead guitar), Lachlan Galbraith (keyboard, vocals), Nic Blom (bass), Tom O’Brien (drums) and Mitch – have been always on the go, touring, travelling, developing albums and recording songs. That is, until COVID hit and their nomadic lifestyle stopped.

But being forced to slow down meant the band could take time to breathe – perhaps something they hadn’t done since they hit the sonic stratosphere. So they headed home to Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

“We couldn’t tour anymore, so we had all this extra time,” he says.

Despite having only just released their third album (Lonely Diamond), Ocean Alley decided to keep the creative cogs turning – writing and recording more music while normal life was on hiatus.

“We could play around and focus on the music more,” Mitch adds. “Making Low Altitude Living was quite different to the times before. I think if it had been too similar to the other records, we might’ve lost the spark.”

Ocean Alley’s time spent by the sea, catching waves and with friends is reflected throughout this new album. Stand-out dreamy ‘Touch Back Down’ speaks to the band’s longing to be a local, and in ‘Home’, frontman Baden Donegal sings about untangling emotions while reconnecting with people and places in his hometown.

“Being at home gave us time to be more introspective with our songwriting, so when we came together we had really good material to work with,” he says.

Low Altitude Living isn’t shy to touch on themes of love, life, betrayal and temptation. And yet while 12 tracks are feeling-driven, the fourth album is easy-listening with gooey guitar-driven tunes perfect for summer days.

But it’s clear the band are pushing their creative boundaries. Songs like ‘Deepest Darkness’ shifts the album into powerful new territories, with heavy layers of reverb-laden guitar and building drums; while in ‘Changes’ and the 6-minute opus ‘Lapwing’, you can hear them losing themselves in an epic jam.

When putting it to Mitch that the album is adventurous, he agrees.

“It is. We felt more comfortable being adventurous because we had time to explore different sounds. It was fun to muck around with those different feelings.”

Experimenting with a new sound isn’t an accident. The six musicians have been playing together for 10 years, living life on the road and in the studio – this latest record is a “continuation of what they’ve always been doing.”

“We hold that process dear to us. It’s us exploring our music tastes – our likes and dislikes – and transforming that through the music.”

Like its preceding albums, Low Altitude Living is already a hit, entering the Australian Album Charts at No.3.

“We try our best, so it’s even more of a pleasure when it is well received,” he says. “And it’s encouraging for us – it means we can be more confident when we work on new music again.”

Now, Ocean Alley is preparing for the summer festival season – a time sorely missed by both punters and musicians – and the boys are keen to get back in front of Australian audiences. The band will join the Falls Festival and inaugural Heaps Good line-up on January 6th.

“We were stoked to get the call-up for Heaps Good,” he says. “The festivals [at the Adelaide Showground] are mental. It’ll be nice to be back on a festival stage.”

Low Altitude Living will have its moment in the sun this festival season, but while we’re gearing up to groove to new tracks, Mitch assures us their set will still contain some Ocean Alley classics.

“I don’t think we’d get away with not playing any old stuff,” quips Mitch. “But it’s going to be exciting – we’re ready to roll.”

Despite being one of the biggest bands in Australia, sharing a festival bill with Alex Turner and co is also a milestone moment for Mitch, who says that AM is one of his favourite albums to date: “We might get a little bit star-struck backstage,” he laughs. “I probably won’t tell them that though.”

---