The Ocean is available via Merge Records
Bob Mould has shared The Ocean, a new EP featuring three solo acoustic live performances and available now via Merge Records at all DSPs and streaming services.
Originally recorded for NPR’s World Café at Mould’s Granary Music home studio in San Francisco, CA, The Ocean collects stripped back versions of “The Ocean” and “Forecast of Rain,” both first found on 2020’s critically acclaimed album, Blue Hearts, as well as a striking rendition of the Hüsker Dü classic, “Divide and Conquer” from 1985’s Flip Your Wig. The EP arrives alongside a new solo live performance video of “Forecast of Rain,” filmed last October at the Stoughton Opera House in Stoughton, WI during Mould’s sold out Solo Electric: Distortion & Blue Hearts!
“One of my special places is Ocean Beach in San Francisco,” Mould says. “Over the past twelve years, I’ve spent many early mornings walking the shoreline. There’s very few people at dawn: fishers, joggers with dogs, surfers. Depending on the tide cycle, the beach takes on different appearances – sandy sheets of reflective glass, ever-shifting playground for Snowy Plovers and other birds, ocean matter washed up on the shore. I think clearly when walking through the mixture of salt, sand, wind and water. The beach beneath my feet, waves as far as the eye can see, the twinkling night sky giving way to colourful morning light. The constant din of the waves does wonders for my tinnitus. It’s a grounding, soothing, calming feeling – a place to rest. And, there’s always the undertow — that chance of ending up in deeper waters. The Ocean is my homage to those visions, senses, and emotions.”
Mould will mark the arrival of The Ocean with a very busy live schedule, including full band performances and both new and rescheduled dates on the ongoing Solo Electric: Distortion & Blue Hearts! Tour. North American dates begin March 30th in Ventura, CA, followed in June by an eagerly anticipated solo tour of the UK and Ireland. More dates will be added in the future.
The tour is in support of Mould’s 24 CD Distortion: 1989-2019, 8 LP Distortion: 1989-1995, 9 LP Distortion: 1996-2007, 7 LP Distortion 2008-2019, 8 LP Distortion: Live box sets and Distortion: The Best of 1989-2019 compilations available now on Demon Music Group.
