Heavy Is the Ocean

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"Heavy Is the Ocean"
Bush Heavy is the Ocean.jpg
Single by Bush
from the album The Art of Survival
Released21 September 2022
Genre Sludge metal [1]
Length5:12
Songwriter(s) Gavin Rossdale
Producer(s) Gavin Rossdale
Bush singles chronology
"More Than Machines"
(2022)
"Heavy Is the Ocean"
(2022)
"All Things Must Change"
(2023)

"Heavy Is the Ocean" is a song by English rock band Bush, released as the second single from their 2022 album The Art of Survival .

Unlike its predecessor, "More Than Machines", "Heavy Is the Ocean" did not appear on any Billboard charts, but attracted significant attention from the music press for its bass-driven guitar riff and heavy sound. On its release in September 2022, songwriter and Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale described the song as setting the tone for The Art of Survival. [2]

Details

"Heavy Is the Ocean" is characterised by a sound described Phonotonal Magazine as "slow but heavy-hitting", opening with the bass, described as the "star" of the song, which is later accompanied by what has been described as "crashing drums and a smouldering guitar". [3] Loudersound described the riffs that characterise the song as being reminiscent of grunge mainstays Alice in Chains and even heavy metal trailblazers Black Sabbath. [4] Wall of Sound Australia similarly described the track as "stoner-Sabbath stuff". [5] Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic described the track as stomping though "old-school sludge". [1]

Upon having recorded the track, frontman and songwriter Gavin Rossdale decided that the song should open The Art of Survival, with Rossdale explaining in September 2022: "it really sets the tone and the gravitas of the album. I love the power of the ocean. It’s mesmerizing to me. It feeds your soul". [2] Discussing the theme of the song, Rossdale told Kerrang! in October 2022: "things were so bad for so many people [during the pandemic]. And it just kind of hit me one day: that's what [the record] should be. And it makes perfect sense. "Heavy Is the Ocean" is sort of the universal acceptance of that – everyone's had mad suffering, but it's finding the way through it." [6]

"Heavy Is the Ocean" is in the key of F and has a tempo of 117 BPM.

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References

  1. 1 2 Yeung, Neil Z. "Bush – The Art of Survival – Album Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  2. 1 2 Uitti, Jacob (21 September 2022). "Bush Releases New Single Encouraging Uninhibited Love, "Heavy is the Ocean"". American Songwriter. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  3. Fenton, Steve (20 September 2022). "BUSH - Heavy is the Ocean". Phontonal. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  4. Aizelwood, John (7 October 2022). "Bush - Art of Survival - Some people still don't take Bush seriously and it's their loss". Classic Rock . Retrieved 7 October 2022 via LouderSound.
  5. "Bush – the Art of Survival (Album Review)". 5 October 2022.
  6. Rabsch, Thomas (7 October 2022). "Bush's Gavin Rossdale: "People believe other people's bullsh*t, and then weaponise that"". Kerrang!. Retrieved 6 September 2024.