Oceans (Esprit D'Air album) explained

Oceans is the second studio album by London-based British-Japanese rock band Esprit D'Air. It was released on 18 February 2022, through the band's own Starstorm Records with a distribution partnership with AWAL and Plastic Head Distribution. Work on the album began in 2018, but was halted due to the theft of producer and singer Kai's laptop and backups in 2019, which delayed new singles and the album releases.^[1]

Esprit D'Air completed the album in late in 2021 after successfully crowdfunding the album.^[2] Oceans is a very genre-fluid album containing various metal and rock genres with elements of electronics and piano. It was produced entirely by Kai with collaborations from session musicians and featured artists including Ben Christo from the Sisters of Mercy and Ryo Kinoshita from Crystal Lake, and Japanese vocaloid artist UmiKazeTaiyou.^[3]

Composition

Critics have identified the style to be genre-fluid with various tracks ranging from djent and electronicore to power metal and post-rock. The use of digital synthesizer is prevalent in most tracks, much like their debut album Constellations.^[4]

Singles

Esprit D'Air released multiple singles from the album including their most popular song 'Leviathan', which premiered on Loudwire,^[5] as well as songs such as "The Abyss" featuring Ryo Kinoshita from Crystal Lake, and "Dead Zone" featuring Ben Christo from The Sisters of Mercy.

Reception

Critical

The release of 'Leviathan' garnered some praise from peers with The Sisters of Mercy's Ben Christo stating of the song, "It's a really unique blend of djent, industrial, electro, goth, emo, metal and much more. I love the dramatics and cinematic quality it has, with haunting, melancholy colors swooping betwixt the cruel, relentless jaws of the machine."^[6] Michael Falcore of The Birthday Massacre stated that 'Leviathan' is a "wonderful song, feels like a modern day opera with heavy guitars set on fire! Melancholic and haunting, the vocals cut deep. A truly inspired song."^[7]

About the track, 'Dead Zone', Richard Shaw, the guitarist of Cradle of Filth stated, "Catchy and atmospheric, with incredible vocals and an otherworldly guitar solo. What a song!".^[8]

PowerPlay Magazine gave Oceans a 10/10 review, and a live review, citing that "In the 25 years that I've been publishing Powerplay and of the thousands of bands that I've seen play live, this rated as one of the most crushingly intense shows that I've ever experienced".

Radio coverage

Both 'Calling You' and 'Amethyst' were played on BBC Radio's F.N.A.T. show.^{[9] [10]}

'Leviathan' was played on BBC Radio 1's Future Alternative show with Nels Hylton and Kerrang! Radio's Fresh Blood with Alex Baker. About 'Leviathan', Nels Hylton states, "Gargantuan, taking electronic-sounding elements and just layering it over some of the best guitar riffs I’ve heard in a minute.", whilst Alex Baker states, "Showcases how these guys have the ability to mix up so many flavors. It's proggy, cinematic, it's synthy, it's a bit DragonForce-y at times, a bit metal-y, but all the time, it's bloody great."^{[11] [12]}

Ollie Winiberg (BBC Radio 1) also stated, "One of the most phenomenal guitar players I have seen in years, going by the name of Esprit D'Air." on his Heavy Hooks podcast.^[13]

'The Abyss' was played on TotalRock and Midlands Metalheads Radio.

Matthew Kiichi Heafy of Trivium played 'Leviathan' as an opening track on his Chaos Hour show on SiriusXM.^[14]

Commercial

Despite not being on a major record label and releasing independently, "Oceans" peaked at number 8 on the UK Rock and Metal Albums Chart, and number 5 on the UK Independent Albums Chart and has re-entered and stayed in the Official Charts for several weeks in 2022. It was their first album to reach the UK charts.

Tour dates

Esprit D'Air announced an extensive string of 34 tour dates to perform songs from the Oceans album, including an album launch party at the O2 Academy Islington, London.^[15]

Date! scope="col" style="width:10em;"

City	Country	Venue
British Isles
20 February 2022	London	England	O2 Academy Islington
30 July 2022	London		The Underworld
31 July 2022	Newcastle upon Tyne		The Cluny 2
1 August 2022	Glasgow	Scotland	The Garage (G2)
2 August 2022	Manchester	England	Rebellion
17 February 2023	Cardiff	Wales	The Globe
19 February 2023	York	England	The Fulford Arms
20 February 2023	Newcastle upon Tyne		The Cluny
21 February 2023	Edinburgh	Scotland	La Belle Angèle
22 February 2023	Manchester	England	Manchester Academy 3
23 February 2023	Birmingham		O2 Academy3 Birmingham
25 February 2023	London		The Black Heart (Patreon-only show)
Europe
8 October 2023	Kraków	Poland	Klub Zaścianek
10 October 2023	Budapest	Hungary	Dürer Kert
12 October 2023	Barcelona	Spain	La Nau
British Isles
12 February 2024	Bournemouth	England	The Old Fire Station
13 February 2024	Exeter	England	Exeter Phoenix
14 February 2024	Bristol	England	Thekla
16 February 2024	Swansea	Wales	Hangar 18
18 February 2024	Wolverhampton	England	KK's Steel Mill
19 February 2024	Sheffield	England	Corporation
20 February 2024	Manchester	England	Manchester Academy 3
21 February 2024	Liverpool	England	O2 Academy Liverpool
23 February 2024	Dublin	Ireland	The Grand Social
24 February 2024	Belfast	Northern Ireland	Oh Yeah Music Centre
26 February 2024	Leeds	England	The Warehouse
27 February 2024	Glasgow	Scotland	The Garage
28 February 2024	Newcastle upon Tyne	England	Northumbria University Students' Union
29 February 2024	Nottingham	England	Rescue Rooms
2 March 2024	London	England	The Garage
Europe
29 March 2024	Heerlen	Netherlands	Poppodium Nieuwe Nor
30 March 2024	Hamburg	Germany	Headcrash
31 March 2024	Cologne	Germany	MTC
1 April 2024	Antwerp	Belgium	Kavka Oudaan

Personnel

Production

• Kai – lead vocals, guitar, bass, drums, piano, synthesizer, production, programming, recording engineer, art direction and typography
• Paul Visser – mixing and mastering engineer (all tracks except 1, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19 and 20)

Session musicians

• Ryoma Takahashi – co-producer and writer (tracks 2 and 14)
• Yusuke Okamoto – co-producer and writer (track 4)
• UmiKazeTaiyou – co-producer and writer (track 9)
• Takeshi Tokunaga – co-producer and writer (track 10), bass (tracks 3, 10 and 14)
• Yoshisuke Suga – writer (track 16)
• Tatsuya Nashimoto – producer (track 16)
• Jan-Vincent Velazco – drums (track 14 and 18)
• Sougo Akiyoshi – drums (track 7 and 8)
• Ryo Kinoshita – additional vocals and lyrics (track 5)
• Ben Christo – additional vocals and lyrics (track 6)

Artwork

• Lewis-Jon Somerscales – disc and inlay innerpage artwork
• Alex Kie – photographer

Remixers

• Heavygrinder – remix engineer (track 17)
• Shirobon – remix engineer (track 20)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Esprit D'Air / Oceans is something to celebrate and admire . MetalTalk . Kahmel Farahani. 14 February 2022 . 25 February 2022.
2. Web site: Esprit D'Air launched crowdfunding for second album "Oceans . AVO Magazine . 25 February 2022.
3. Web site: Esprit D'Air to collaborate with members of The Sisters of Mercy and Crystal Lake in new album Oceans . MetalTalk . 6 January 2022 . 25 February 2022.
4. Web site: Conquering The Oceans With Esprit D'Air . Heavy Magazine . 17 February 2022 . 25 February 2022.
5. Web site: Japanese Metal Band Esprit D'Air Seek Resilience Through Connection in 'Leviathan' Video . Loudwire . Chad Childers . 3 December 2020 . 25 February 2022.
6. Web site: Esprit D'Air Seek Resilience in 'Leviathan' Video. Chad Childers. Noise Creep. 3 December 2020 .
7. Web site: ESPRIT D'AIR releases their 10th Anniversary Live Album. Dave Bruce. AMNplify. 6 February 2021 .
8. Web site: Esprit D'Air Releases New Single + Lyric Video "Dead Zone" ft. Ben Christo (The Sisters of Mercy) Taken From New Album 'Oceans'. Rock Your Lyrics. 14 March 2022 . 15 March 2022.
9. F.N.A.T. . 11 May 2018 . F.N.A.T.. John . Clayton. Sean . McGinty . BBC . BBC Radio Lancashire . 11 May 2018 .
10. F.N.A.T. . 22 February 2019 . F.N.A.T.. John . Clayton. Sean . McGinty . BBC . BBC Radio Lancashire . 22 February 2019 .
11. Kerrang! Radio: Fresh Blood . 16 December 2020 . Fresh Blood . / . Alex . Baker . Kiss Network . Kerrang! Radio . 16 December 2020 .
12. Radio 1's Future Alternative . 22 November 2022 . Fresh Blood . / . Nels . Hylton . BBC . BBC Radio 1 . 22 November 2022 .
13. Misstiq. Spotify. Music Gateway. Ollie Winiberg. 3 November 2021.
14. matthewkheafy . CunPQNnOa7q . How about this lineup!? Episode 34 of #chaoshour on #siriusxm #liquidmetal is live at 6pm est only on Sirius xm! . 12 July 2023.
15. Web site: Esprit D'Air announce UK tour dates and reaches #13 in the UK Official Charts. Esprit D'Air. 26 February 2022 . 26 February 2022.