The Wombats today release the extended version of their sixth studio album, Oh! The Ocean, out via AWAL Recordings – listen HERE. The band recently wrapped their Australian tour, which saw them perform their sixth triple j Like A Version, covering Huey Lewis & The News’ ‘The Power Of Love’ and have just launched the second leg of their huge UK arena tour, where they are covering cities they didn’t visit earlier this year.
Speaking on the extended album version, Murph says: “We recorded three of these songs during the original album sessions, not entirely sure which tracks would make it onto Oh! The Ocean. Holy Sugar came a few months later in the UK. To me, these songs complete the Oh! The Ocean puzzle, widening its aperture and carrying the album’s world a little further.”
Oh! The Ocean has already amassed over 35 million streams and the new extended edition elevates the record even further, adding some more exciting material – including two brand-new tracks, ‘Love You Like a Rainbow’ and ‘Different Next Time’. Various new songs were recorded with producer John Congleton, and one of their latest releases from the extended album, ‘Holy Sugar’, has also just landed a spot on the BBC Radio 1 playlist.
Discussing the album’s focus track ‘Love You Like A Rainbow’, Murph comments: “One of my main aims with Love You Like A Rainbow was to create something both saccharine and a little demonic. At its heart, it’s a sweet song about my daughters, but I wanted the music to be messier, more distorted – almost mischievous.”
On ‘Different Next Time’, Dan says: “Drum machine loops. Wurlitzer. Film score synths. Dreamy nostalgia mixed with a sense of ‘what if we could do this all over again’? A chilled, ambient side of The Wombats. Imagine Death Cab for Cutie and Taylor Swift are having a late night dinner, discussing second chances and time travel, whilst Air plays Moon Safari from start to finish in the corner of the restaurant.”
The current leg of their huge UK arena tour takes the band to cities not covered during the first instalment of their biggest UK run to date in March 2025. That initial tour saw them play sold-out shows across the country, including London’s O2 (watch HERE). Full tour listing below.
This summer, the trio brought the album to life on some of the biggest festival stages, delivering standout performances at NOS Alive, Boardmasters (watch HERE) and Y Not Festival, as well as On The Waterfront – the band’s biggest outdoor headline show to date in their hometown of Liverpool.
Since they emerged as leading lights of the late-‘00s indie rock scene with 2007 debut A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation, Murph, bassist Tord Øverland Knudsen and drummer Dan Haggis have maintained an incredible upward momentum. 2011’s electro-flecked second album This Modern Glitch made them Top Ten regulars; 2015’s third Glitterbugsaw them embraced by the TikTok generation, with ‘Greek Tragedy’ a viral hit several times over. By 2018’s Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life they’d stepped up to arenas and 2022’s Fix Yourself, Not the World consolidated their unstoppable rise with the band’s first Number One album, seeing them reach over 2.5 billion streams. Headline shows at Crystal Palace and The O2 followed amid the band’s biggest touring cycle so far, taking in arenas across the globe and culminating at Reading 2024, where the band headlined a rammed Radio 1 tent overspilling with crowds of 18-24-year-olds that remain their core audience twenty years into their career.
The extended version of Oh! The Ocean is a bold marker in The Wombats’ journey, propelling them further into an exciting new era.
The Wombats – UK Tour Dates
02 December – Edinburgh, Corn Exchange
03 December – Aberdeen, Music Hall
05 December – Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, Utilita Arena
06 December – Birmingham, England, bp pulse LIVE Arena
07 December – Bournemouth, England, Bournemouth International Centre
09 December – Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Olympia Theatre
10 December – Belfast, Northern Ireland, The Telegraph Building
11 December – Blackpool, England, Empress Ballroom
