‘…unconventional songwriting, fantastic musical performances, and a real sense that nobody else could do what they are doing…’
With a very impressive debut EP, exploding social media numbers, and shows across England, France, and Belgium, 2025 has been something of a very successful year for Newcastle-upon-Tyne born and London based outfit labyrinthine oceans. The four-piece have mastered a darkly cinematic grunge-gaze sound that, despite not being immediately easily accessible, has garnered them quite the cult following; listeners can tell when it’s authentic, and that is precisely what this band radiate. This continues with their brand new cataclysm of a song, ‘automata’.
The line between man and machine becomes increasingly blurred with every passing day; you can truly carry the world in your back pocket, and whether reality exists in the material world or in cyberspace seems up for debate. That is what this dark anthem gets to grips with, as vocalist Julia O’Neill-Walton carves out haunting melodies with grim lyricism, desperate to cling on to some semblance of humanity in a world that no longer desires it (‘Like a machine/That’s built to bleed’).
The instrumental takes a subtly progressive twist on the band’s grunge-gaze sound, with a superb guitar performance from Ellie Bunker that continually writhes with an electrifying energy. Percussion continually builds up and crashes back down upon the listener with striking cinematic character, whilst a thick, fuzzy bass line binds all of these musical ingredients together to make it all sound truly monolithic.
Are labyrinthine oceans destined for alternative stardom? There are no guarantees. Yet there remains a certain star quality about this band that simply makes you want to step into their strange and often unsettling world. ‘automata’ encapsulates precisely what makes labyrinthine oceans so enchanting: unconventional songwriting, fantastic musical performances, and a real sense that nobody else could do what they are doing. There is something special here; let us only hope the UK alternative music scene wakes up to it.
For Fans Of: NewDad, Radiohead, Slowcrush, TNL VZN, Hole
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