Oceanator Teams Up With Bartees Strange for Massive Single “Bad Brain Daze”

By Nathan Leigh

February 22, 2022

Individually, both Oceanator’s Elise Okusami and Bartees Strange have been behind some of the best and most inventive indie rock of the past few years. There’s a compelling mix of back-to-basics guitars-and-hooks with truly unexpected sonic exploration that underpins both artists work, so of course when they get into the studio together, magic happens. Oceanator’s latest features the multi-instrumentalist teaming up with her brother and frequent collaborator Mike Okusami, with Bartees Strange handling co-production duties. The result is a highlight in an ongoing stream of highlights; a burst of nihilistic glee that perfectly captures the moment when you can’t decide whether to laugh or cry because everything is that fucked. Perfectly skirting the line between irony and earnestness, “Bad Brain Daze” and its accompanying imaginative video is an anthem of the moment.

“Bad Brain Daze” comes from Oceanator’s forthcoming Nothing’s Ever Fine. Describing the contradictions at the heart of the new record, Elise Okusami says “You’re either walking off into a nice sunset or going off into a black hole. For me, it depends on the mood; it can be both ways.”