Emily Nicole outdoes herself on magnificent single, "Ocean"
Previewing yet another stunning single off her upcoming record The Ocean’s Embrace, Emily Nicole has made a swift return with a new one called “Ocean”. Keep reading for a closer look at the track, in addition to an update on the artist.
Serving as the second “ocean-inspired” song on her album, Emily Nicole’s “Ocean” has gone through multiple iterations to ultimately end up as a dreamy and instrumentally innovative piece. What originally started out as a minimalistic approach featuring just vocals and piano was transformed by the magic touches of Producer Nate Christy. Adding elements of pulsating synthesizers, explosive drums, and catchy beats, we’ve quickly fallen in love with the final product and where it ended up.
It’s been just about two months since we last reviewed Emily’s music, more specifically on her single and video for “Sunset”, so you can only imagine our pure excitement when we found out she had more on the way. Considering this is the third single thus far to release ahead of The Ocean’s Embrace, the mood and atmosphere is beginning to take shape for the completed listen. Now having had the opportunity to enjoy “Ocean” since its official release on May 27th, it’s quickly transformed into our default song for a quick boost of energy and something we can already envision ourselves returning to deep into the summer months. It's inspired by Emily’s hometown beach and her love for the ocean. In fact, the opening lines of the song read, "This is what we want, it's what we have.", essentially an homage to the beach.
Emily's friend, Luke Concannon, chart topping singer-songwriter, was one of the first to listen to the song Ocean after she wrote it. She played it for him on the piano. He's seen the song evolve in the studio and been a great inspiration on the produced song. He's a great part of their team. He says "I'm excited for the release of her album. She and her producer Nate have been working up a storm of great beauty."
With such a vibrant production attached and so many glimmers of pop, it’s a dance party on the beach! The grooves and funk undoubtedly had to be our highlight. Although, Emily’s vocals certainly display a dynamic range that makes the listener feel like they’re on a sonic adventure from start to finish. Throughout the wild ride of the track, you’re immediately immersed through the opening notes and nothing can really prepare you for the greatness through twists and turns of artistic ingenuity.
Regarding the production of the single, Producer Nate Christy gave us a completely necessary break down of how it all came together. “I am very fortunate to have artists like Emily who bring me songs in their most basic form, usually a piano and a vocal and then together we sculpt a fun soundscape that tells its own story. We actually started this song a few years ago. We had put this song on hold in the beginning of the pandemic to work on other songs. When we returned to in person sessions Emily asked if it was “dancy enough”? After writing the lyrics out and studying the song form, I realized we needed to tweak the pre-chorus and add a bridge. I took some of the notes in one of the existing sections and reharmonized the melody. It’s usually pretty obvious when Emily likes a change that I make because feet will start tapping and she will usually start singing along. We were trying to embody a beach type drum feel, so I added some off beat drum layers that reminded me of steel drums. The congas also give a fun party lift in the “da, da, da” sections. My Gibson 335 played most of the lead guitar lines. A variety of synths were used on the track. Emily's vocals are their own instrument in this production. We both love vocal effects and using her voice as an additional timbre without being a lyric. We had fun with radio efx, stereo imaging with phrases like “July, July, July” that sweeps across the image, fun backing vocals like the line “love, love, love” right before the chorus, and even making Emily’s voice sound like ocean waves”.
All that being said though, “Ocean” is 100% worth your time and effort to give a listen to. While you’re at it, we’re also urging everyone out there to check out the first two released songs to get a feel for The Ocean’s Embrace prior to its official release. Please click the links below and follow Emily Nicole on her social media to stay up to date for the latest news.
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