New Music & Tour News - Ocean Alley release album 'Love Balloon' + headline Spark Arena - Feb 2026
Photo credit: Kane Lehanneur
Artist Name - Ocean Alley
Release Name - Love Balloon
Release Date - 19th September 2025
Genre - Alternative Rock, Psychedelic Rock
Label - Community Music
Globally renowned rockers Ocean Alley return with their most vibrant and confident body of work yet, unveiling their fifth studio album Love Balloon, out now independently via Community Music. The release is led by the luminous focus track and video ‘Drenched’, capturing the six-piece’s gift for transforming vulnerability into something cathartic and universally resonant.
Across 10 tracks, Love Balloon takes listeners on a journey through life and love in all its complexity, anchored by moments of light, vulnerability and connection. Written during a time of significant personal milestones for each band member, that undercurrent fed directly into their pursuit of new sounds. With legendary rock producer Nick DiDia (Bruce Springsteen, Rage Against The Machine, Powderfinger) at the helm, the album embraces a stripped-back, organic approach that prioritised spontaneity and openness through the recording process. Woven with influences as diverse as Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Bee Gees, Kokoroko and GUM, it wears its inspirations with reverence while carving out its own distinct Ocean Alley-flair.
Keyboardist and vocalist Lach Galbraith shared, “The album explores the many layered dimensions of love - not just the cinematic kind where you're falling head over heels, but the full spectrum: joy, hurt, discomfort and disappointment. Let’s call it the river of love - whether it’s with a partner, a friend, or family, you never know when it’ll get deep, go shallow, or suddenly change course. It’s such a force that you have to just surrender to its current.”
From the disarmingly simple four-chord progression that opens ‘First Blush’, there is an immediate shift from records past - its melodic ease feels instantly familiar, like a song that you’ve always known. The toasty, sun-soaked ‘Tangerine’ has already cemented itself as an audience favourite, while the driving beat of ‘Thru Everything’ and the bluesy swagger of ‘Left Of The Dealer’ showcase the strength of the band’s rock DNA. At the album’s core sits the buoyant title track ‘Love Balloon’ - anchored by an irresistible groove, pulsating bassline and shimmering guitar riff, threaded with Nile Rodgers-inspired funk that marks playful new territory for the group. And closing track ‘Drenched’, which drifts in like golden hour, warmed by slide guitar and subtle country twang, soaring on vintage synths and whirling guitars. Baden Donegal’s hypnotic vocals swell with dizzying self-reflection to glimmers of hope and release, it’s a finale that transforms introspection into bliss. The accompanying video was inspired by a wave of early-2000s nostalgia, drawing on director Duncan Wright’s own memories of growing up skating and “being ratbags when there wasn’t any swell” in Gracetown where the clip was shot - and aligning similarly to how the Ocean Alley boys grew up. Channeling that energy, the video features first-time actors alongside the band, who were given the freedom to play around in different scenes… surfing, loitering and capturing the carefree spirit of youth.
OCEAN ALLEY - With special guests Skeggs & DON WEST, NEW ZEALAND FEB 2026
Presented by Eccles Entertainment, The Edge + Mai FM
Tickets on sale now
FRI 27 FEB 2026 - Spark Arena | Auckland
ticketmaster.co.nz
Also appearing at Electric Avenue - Saturday 28 February 2026 SOLD OUT
