The Ocean Collective – Solaris

The Ocean Collective have always been a rather dynamic and lively collective. Essentially a project built around Robin Staps, the band have gone through numerous incarnations over the years, collaborating with countless musicians and producing nine full-length albums in the process. Yet the stable lineup that characterised their last three albums, combined with the critical acclaim and commercial success those records achieved, made the decision to dismantle that lineup and start over something of a surprise.

Apart from Staps, the new lineup features only one musician who has been with the band for some time – bassist Mattias Hägerstrand, who joined in 2015. Drummer Jordi Farré of Crippled Black Phoenix joined last year, while the remaining positions are occupied by new faces. Hypno5e’s singer and guitarist Emmanuel Jessua joins Staps and Marco Gennaro on guitars, while Enrico Tiberi and Lane Shi take over vocal duties.

Tiberi is an obvious choice in some ways. His vocals bears a fair resemblance to that of Loïc Rossetti, who handled vocal duties for more than 15 years and became an important part of The Ocean’s musical identity. Shi, on the other hand, brings something entirely new to the equation. And that’s not simply because she is a female vocalist. Her background as an experimental (solo) artist, sound designer, film composer and installation artist gives her a much broader palette to work with. With Shi in the lineup, The Ocean have gained considerably more than another singer.

So how have all these changes manifested themselves on Solaris?

Following the monumental trilogy that began with Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic in 2018 and concluded with 2023’s Holocene, it is clear that The Ocean were ready to explore new horizons. On Solaris, they do exactly that – although perhaps not quite as drastically as one might have expected.

Holocene significantly increased the use of electronics, and its closing track hinted that this might be an area the band would explore further. Solaris doesn’t represent a major leap in that direction, with the notable exception of its final two tracks. Overall, however, it remains unmistakably The Ocean. The band’s trademarks are all here, making Solaris a logical continuation of Holocene while simultaneously expanding the band’s creative palette.

One of the most obvious changes is scale. Four of the album’s eight songs clock in at between 10 and 17 minutes, giving The Ocean considerably more room to explore an epic and cinematic approach while largely abandoning conventional song structures.

That might sound intimidating, but Solaris is surprisingly accessible for an album of this scope. The core of the songwriting remains strong, the flow is remarkably natural, and there are hooks everywhere – although they come in many different forms. Some of this album’s qualities are obvious and immediate, while others only reveal themselves after repeated listens.

And repeated listens are essential.

To truly appreciate Solaris, you need to invest both time and attention. There is simply too much going on for everything to reveal itself immediately. Importantly, this isn’t only a consequence of the extended song lengths. Even the shorter pieces contain layers that become apparent only when you allow yourself to dig deeper. Ultimately, this is an album, and a concept album at that, which benefits enormously from being approached as a complete work rather than a collection of individual tracks.

The final two songs take the experimentation considerably further, and remarkably, they fit naturally within the album’s overall flow. “Milk of My Dreams” is particularly effective, and ending the album on such an experimental note could well be an indication of where Staps and company intend to take The Ocean next.

If so, it will be an intriguing direction to follow.

There is a rejuvenated feel to The Ocean on Solaris. It wasn’t necessarily something the band needed, but this new incarnation has created something that feels fresh without sacrificing the band’s DNA at all. Lane Shi is particularly important in that respect. Her presence adds a new dynamic as well as a sense of unpredictability, and hopefully she will remain a significant part of the band’s future releases. If given even more room to explore her abilities, she could become one of the defining elements of this new era.

At the same time, Staps appears to have resisted the temptation to completely reinvent the band on its first album with the new lineup. That was probably the right decision. After building such a strong following over the course of the last three or four albums, Solaris serves as a bridge rather than a rupture – familiar enough to welcome existing fans while leaving plenty of clues about where the band could go next.

That balance has always been part of The Ocean’s appeal. Staps has repeatedly surrounded himself with different combinations of highly skilled musicians, allowing the project to evolve without losing its core identity. Solaris mirrors that very nature. It is an album shaped by change, yet one that never loses sight of where it came from.

At this stage in their career, the balance between the familiar and the new on Solaris feels almost perfect. The album remains unmistakably The Ocean while introducing enough new ideas, textures and dynamics to make this new incarnation genuinely exciting.

Solaris isn’t a clean break with the past. It is a new chapter – one that feels fresh, true to The Ocean’s legacy and, perhaps most importantly, full of possibilities. With this lineup, those possibilities suddenly seem almost limitless.

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