Songs of Strength and Vulnerability
With her brilliant and deeply vulnerable single “30 Under Water,” Abi Ocia is experiencing a timely collision of her musical and personal lives. “As I started writing the song, I found myself having an honest check-in with myself,” she says of the acoustic-pop track, co-written with acclaimed tunesmith and frequent Ocia collaborator Dan Holloway. “Questions like ‘Am I going anywhere creatively? What’s happening in my life?’ started moving to the front of my brain. As I explored possible answers, I then started thinking about where society says we should be versus where we are.”
ABI OCIA has now shared her commanding new single “MESSED UP WAYS," a groove-laden banger that shows the artist assessing her ascension from innocent ingenue to life and love as a fully realized, empowered young woman.
The core of the song was written after a date that proved to be more than a little eye-opening. “The charming naivety of the guy’s ignorance to love and relationships led me to think about my own experiences,” she recalls. “The song became a reflection on how chaotic and damaging a distorted version of love can be, serving as both a warning and a plea for something genuine and healing.”
Ocia enlisted the creative collaboration of famed producer/songwriter EDDIE SERAFICA (James Bay, Sigala) flesh the song out with the kind of instrumental edge and electronic dance groove necessary to fully illustrate Ocia’s vision.
Listen
“We pushed the track through several iterations before settling on its current form… The underlying aggression and persistent drive of the chorus all help to pull the song into this sense of desperation and fragile tension. Experimenting within this world has been very liberating.”
The result is one of Ocia’s most direct and impassioned recordings to date. It is also the latest salvo in a career that includes the lush 2022 single, “LTWYLM (Love the Way You Love Me),” a rhythm-rich pop gem that has amassed over 1M global streams to date.
A pivotal moment prior to her more recent recordings was her 2016 debut, the beautifully atmospheric “Running.” The recording, which elegantly merges elements of vintage soul and jazz with contemporary pop, struck a chord with the public, triggering over 10.7M global streams to date. That success inspired further creative exploration and experimentation, leading to the adventurous 2019 EP, Where are You?
Now, Ocia is crafting new tunes with Serafica to follow “Messed Up Ways”; songs that will continue to explore her life and the world with complete transparency and vulnerability.
“I find it a bit scary at times… But I’m excited to share all that is new on my musical journey, and to bring listeners into my world in a way that is less opaque.”
