Declan O’Rourke releases new album ahead of Mullingar gig
Singer-songwriter Declan O’Rourke has released his eighth studio album, Oceanic, today Friday October 16, along with the single Miracles and Mirages, which follows Echo, For Free, and Earl Grey and Edwin.
Recorded in Sydney with longtime friend and collaborator Jim Moginie (Midnight Oil), the album marks a profound full-circle moment in Declan’s life and career.
At the age of 19, it was in Australia that he committed his first songs to tape, and that link carried through to debut album, Since Kyabram (2004), which took its name from the rural Australian town of Kyabram.
Decades later, returning to create a full studio album there was a creative decision, and is a reconnection with the spirit of those formative years, now enriched by experience and artistic growth.
That sense of return is evident in Miracles and Mirages, which Declan and Jim originally wrote the day after they met, 20 years ago at the Blue Mountains Festival in New South Wales.
They rediscovered it during conversations ahead of the Oceanic sessions, and returned to the song in Jim’s Sydney studio. Declan says he thought at the time: “Wow, this is a banger!”
The song grew from a light-hearted conversation between the two friends about the pitfalls of the modern healing world: “Everyone claims to have the cure for whatever ails you. Natural medicine is the way to go, of course, no question – but you have to do the inner work too, and that’s a lifetime job,” said Declan.
He and Jim share a trust that gave the sessions a real sense of freedom. “Jim is easy to be around, and songs just seem to happen when we hang out. I thought he must be like this with everyone. He obviously wrote buckets of songs with his pals in the Oils. But he told me recently I’m an oddity in this regard for him too. So, there’s some chemistry and magic at work which we won’t question too hard!”
A carefully shaped record, Oceanic captures a life lived across two continents and hemispheres: “Oceanic somehow wrote, and then made itself too,” said Declan.
“I’ve always felt that being an artist is a process of stripping away layers of yourself to get to the core. If that’s true, then Oceanic is a collection of dreams that have surfaced on their own, from among the deepest of my own layers.”
Following Arrivals (2021), the Paul Weller-produced album that marked a high point in Declan’s catalogue, Oceanic is a natural step forward from an artist who continues to evolve, guided by curiosity and a willingness to follow wherever the current leads.
Oceanic is on iTunes now and is streaming on other platforms from November 20.
Local gig
Declan O’Rourke is performing at Mullingar Arts Centre on Friday October 9: see mullingarartscentre.ie and declanorourke.com.