For the now-Nashville-based singer/songwriter, Elijah Ocean, it all started with “The Writing on the Wall.”
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Several years ago, inspiration struck Ocean while in Austin, Texas, for the South by Southwest festival. This specific bolt of artistry then sparked an album unlike anything Ocean had written before. So, tucked away in an Airbnb years ago, the beginnings of his most recent album, Born Blue (out August 13), emerged.
Born Blue breaks from Ocean’s more folk-centric albums and flies atop the influences of the classic country from the ’80s and ’90s. It’s Ocean’s callback to the Neotraditional country and western music movement. Ocean was also particularly influenced by the earlier 1977 Bobby Bare record Me and McDill.
“I kind of went down a rabbit hole with all that stuff,” Ocean tells American Songwriter. “And it kept inspiring my writing and [I] started incorporating some of those songs into my live show. It was a slow evolution, but I ended up writing about 30 or so songs that kind of like fit in that style.”
Once his song bank began filling up, Ocean reached out to Brian Whelan (former member of Dwight Yoakam’s band) to help him hammer out the finer points of his songs. Then, Ocean moved his unique batch of songs into his home recording studio and worked with Julian King to finish production. This lengthy process totaled up to be the most work that Ocean has put into a record thus far. Ocean reveals it’s the “best thing” he’s done up to this point. “It feels like a statement,” he confirms.
The twelve tracks on Born Blue radiate a timeless country feel. Ocean’s irresistible country swagger with a touch of twang produces a record that is a step above most. Diving into the songs, the title track is the heart of the album and perhaps the most profound of the bunch. Additionally, “‘Honky Tonk Hole’ is basically about somebody who has a dream to be a rock star or something when they’re young. Then as they get older, all they’re doing is playing in bars,” Ocean says.
“‘Thirty-Five’ is basically about gambling addiction. I mean, I wrote that song in Las Vegas the day after I just wasted a bunch of money gambling,” Ocean continues. “There’s a lot of [other] stories in [Born Blue] about losing love and stuff like that.”
All and all, this is an album about getting older while still enjoying the good life. “It’s an expression of my life over the past eight years or so,” Ocean says. “Hopefully, some of the melodies get stuck in [listeners’] heads. I think they’re pretty catchy songs.”
Listen to Elijah Ocean’s Born Blue album below.
