The Daily Spin II

Ocean Alley | Chiaroscuro

Welcome back to the Daily Spin. For the uninitiated, this is the series in which I review an album every day of 2025.

As was the case two years ago, my favorite song from each album can be found at the playlist linked here.

Album: Chiaroscuro (2018)

Artist: Ocean Alley

Link:

Reminiscent of Tame Impala less the synths, Chiaroscuro is twelve spacious tracks packed to the brim with touches of funk, reggae, and psychedelic rock all in one surprisingly palatable package.

The biggest struggle I have here is the track length - as enticing as this combination winds up being on the regular, each individual song has the unfortunate quality of running pretty long. In small doses, this isn’t too bad, but over twelve tracks, that gets pretty noticeable.

Instrumentals are the clear standout here - these guitars are drenched in surf and it bleeds through in every reverberating note, every lingering echo, and with the vaguely funk-tinged sounds at the back, it’s a very pleasing combination. The reggae, however, I could do without.

Rating: 7/10

Best Tracks: Confidence

Worst Tracks: Flowers and Booze