Ocean Grove Team Up With Crystal Arrow Films For 'Stratosphere Love' Clip

Ocean Grove and Crystal Arrow Films take over Melbourne's 170 Russell venue for some stratosphere love, baby. 

Since first hearing the album, one of my personal favourite songs from Ocean Grove's insanely good debut LP, 'The Rhapsody Tapes', was the penultimate track, 'Stratosphere Love'. Much like 'Beers' and 'Intimate Alien' before it on the record, it encapsulates the groovy, bouncier nu-metal approach that the band favoured heavily on their 'Black Label' EP; one they then honed even further on their aforementioned full-length record.

It's been a big year for the Melbourne boys and it just keeps growing with their latest music video for 'Stratosphere Love'. In full disclosure, I knew this one was on its way since May as frontman Luke Holmes made mention to me in passing that prior to their supporting role under Architects, they'd actually shot a music video for the song that would be released prior to their Splendour In The Grass set. Then true to the vocalist's word, that film clip has now arrived.

Now, when OG unveiled the new video overnight, they stated that this undertaking had only come to such fruition due to their partnership with people outside of their band - stepping out of their self-sufficient bubble somewhat. They namely achieved this with the help of director/editor Kieran Ellis-Jones of Crystal Arrow Films, who has really added some tripped out editing to the clip; bolstering that "Odd World" vibe the band strives so hard to present. Which in turn, is something that's been doubly added to with the clips overlayed animations by James Unwin.

The film clip features all the usual ticked boxes for their fictional world; oddball protagonist Donny (played by Melbourne artist and good friend Running Touch), glitched out visuals, guitarist Matt Henley playing shirtless, and Dale Tanner's yellow shirt and goofy shades. The whole thing was shot outside, backstage and on the stage of prime Melbourne club/venue, 170 Russell. (I could never ever mistake those cold, grey labyrinthian like backstage areas nor that seedy back alley for anything else, truth be told).

In a recent statement about the song's visuals and how 'Stratosphere Love' came to be, Holmes stated that:

"In the formative stages of the record we had this idea of creating this paradigm, our own universe we wanted to more or less write a musical composition for, but as the record came along with its varying soundscapes and quirks it became quite evident that it was now the music shaping and obscuring this world we wanted to create. This place while as idiosyncratic as the music itself, began to mirror and reflect the oddities and challenges of the world we know."

Watch 'Stratosphere Love' below.

Ocean Grove will also be hitting the road this August with Justice For The Damned, Broken, and The Beverly Chills.

Friday 4 August - Woolly Mammoth, Brisbane (18+)

Saturday 5 August - Oxford Art Factory, Sydney (18+) SOLD OUT

Friday 11 August - Fowlers Live, Adelaide (Lic/AA)

Saturday 12 August - Corner Hotel, Melbourne (18+) SOLD OUT

PC: Ed Mason.