LONELY Diamond sees Sydney northern beaches band Ocean Alley comfortable in their own skin.
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Certainly it's a fantastic place to be. Particularly if you've become one of Australia's biggest guitar bands following the success of your second album Chiaroscuro and its triple j Hottest 100 single Confidence.
Lonely Diamond isn't so much a shift in direction but an expansion of the '70s psych-rock palette that has come to define Ocean Alley.
Just like the band's popularity - they boast 1.4 million monthly listeners on Spotify - Lonely Diamond is pointed toward the stratosphere.
It has a cosmic quality not evident on Chiaroscuro and frontman Baden Donegal seems preoccupied on more universal musings on Stained Glass and on the title track than he has previously.
On Lonely Diamond he sings, "Suddenly everything's alright/ Now I've fallen in love with the sunshine."
It's a mature progression from singing about "a confident lady" who was "driving me crazy".
Ocean Alley have become renown for the guitar prowess of Angus Goodwin, but some of the finest contributions come from keyboardist Lachlan Galbraith.
The spacey flourishes on Up In There provide the track with a magical quality. Then on the piano ballad All Worn Out, Galbraith provides a new bow to Ocean Alley's songwriting arsenal.
However, by the time the saxophone kicks in, the song is treading awfully close to dad rock territory.
Ocean Alley have failed to produce the radio hits of Chiaroscuro. Nothing here is as catchy as Confidence. But Lonely Diamond shines with a greater refinement.
3.5 STARS