Berlin-based post-metal band THE OCEAN have released “Ultima Esperanza,” the latest preview of their forthcoming 12th studio album, Solaris, due September 25 via Pelagic Records.
“Ultima Esperanza” serves as the first half of the album’s sprawling 20-minute closing piece and continues THE OCEAN’s exploration of humanity’s seemingly endless drive toward the unknown.
Watch the “Ultima Esperanza” video:
The song takes its name from Última Esperanza, the southernmost province on the South American continent, and the Última Esperanza Sound in Chile. Spanish navigator Juan Ladrillero gave the inlet its name in 1557 while searching for a route to the Strait of Magellan. What he hoped would provide a passage instead led toward a glacier and ultimately a dead end.
That history provides the foundation for a song centered on hope, exploration and the psychological consequences of watching that hope disappear.
“‘Ultima Esperanza’ explores the intrinsically human notion of hope as the driving force behind all explorative endeavours, and loss thereof,” the band explains. “It is a reflection on mental resilience, tracing the different stages of losing hope and the mind’s remarkable tendency to keep projecting it even onto the most dire realities, as an instinctive means of survival.”
Once again, THE OCEAN teamed with filmmaker Craig Murray for the song’s accompanying video. The band describes the visual as a potential prequel to the video for previous single “Light Pollution.”
THE OCEAN Explore New Territory With Solaris
Solaris combines elements of Andrei Tarkovsky’s landmark 1972 science-fiction film of the same name with accounts from real-world explorers.
Drawing from historical journals and documents surrounding explorers including Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan and Sir Francis Drake, THE OCEAN use their experiences to draw parallels between physical exploration, the cosmic journey depicted in Tarkovsky’s Solaris, artistic creation and the ambitions of contemporary political leaders.
The record also sees THE OCEAN returning to a more collective approach, with musicians from six countries contributing to the band’s atmospheric post-metal foundation.
Among the album’s contributors is TANGERINE DREAM’s Thorsten Quaeschning on keyboards. New vocalist Enrico Tiberi, himself a multi-instrumentalist and pianist, also helped expand the group’s sonic palette, with celesta, grand piano, Rhodes and Hammond becoming integral elements of the record.
Much of Solaris was recorded at Berlin’s legendary Hansa Studios, whose history includes David Bowie’s Low and “Heroes”, Iggy Pop’s Lust For Life and Depeche Mode’s Construction Time Again.
The album’s visual presentation is similarly ambitious. German artist Phillip Janta and Norwegian graphic designer Martin Kvamme collaborated on the Solaris artwork, while its deluxe physical edition includes a fabric-wrapped hardcover book with copper hot-foil printing, printed inner sleeves, a 32-page book, seven Janta art prints and a customized retro-futuristic star constellation finder.
The elaborate edition continues THE OCEAN’s longstanding emphasis on physical presentation, positioning Solaris as a deliberately tangible work at a time when much of music consumption has shifted toward streaming.
Solaris Track Listing
- 52°30’11” N, 13°26’12“ E
- Departure Song
- Light Pollution
- Simulacra
- Belligerence
- Ultima Esperanza
- Milk Of My Dreams
- 51°28’30” S, 73°6’11” W
Solaris arrives September 25 via Pelagic Records
THE OCEAN
Robin Staps — guitar, vocals
Additional musicians appearing on Solaris:
Mattias Hägerstrand — bass
Jordi Farré — drums, percussion
Thorsten Quaeschning — keyboards
Enrico Tiberi — vocals, keyboards
Lane Shi — vocals
Emmanuel Jessua — guitar
Marco Gennaro — guitar
Orestis Zafiriou — keyboards
Simen Eifring — trombone
Jiawei Zhang — vibraphone