Mike Vennart records new vocals on unheard material for reissue of Oceansize's Self Preserved While The Bodies Float Up

Oceansize 2010 press pic — (Image credit: Press)

Oceansize's fourth and final studio album, 2010's Self Preserved While The Bodies Float Up, is to have a 15th anniversary reissue on triple black vinyl!

The new reissue, to be released through Kscope on National Album Day, October 18, features six bonus tracks, which total half an hour of new music, and singer Mike Vennart has recorded brand new vocals for three of those tracks, which offer a rare glimpse into alternate futures that never came to pass.

Oceansize were, according to Prog Magazine, “A band that never repeated themselves, yet always sounded like nobody else." The band formed in Manchester in 1998, and originally signed to Beggars Banquet, releasing two albums, debut Effloresce (2003) and Everyne Into Position (2005), before shifting to InsideOut Music's more alternative prog label, Superball for 2007's Frames and finally Self Preserved While The Bodies Float Up, after which there followed an acrimonious split.

Lead vocalist and guitarist Mike Vennart is probably best known for playing live guitar for Biffy Clyro and is one of the new singers in the reformed Cardiacs. He also formed his own act, Vennart and the more experimental British Theatre with Oceansize guitarist Richard 'Gambler' Ingram, and more recently, Empire State Bastard with Biffy Clyro frontman Simon Neil.

Fellow guitarist Steve Durose joined Amplifier full-time in 2011 but left in 2020 when the band downsized to the current duo of Sel Balamir and drummer Matt Brobin, while bassist Steve Hodson and drummer Mark Heron are members of Manchester band Kong (not to be confused with the Dutch band of the same name).

Pre-order Self Preserved While The Bodies Float Up.

Oceansize: Self Preserved While The Bodies Float Up

Disc 1
1. Part Cardiac
2. SuperImposer
3. Build Us A Rocket Then
4. Oscar Acceptance Speech
5. Ransoms
6. A Penny’s Weight

Disc 2
1. Silent/Transparent
2. It’s My Tail And I’ll Chase It If I Want To
3. Pine
4. SuperImposter
5. Cloak

Disc 3
1. To The Zoo
2. Cheeseus
3. As Devils Do
4. Perfect Timing
5. The Day After The Duke
6. Sport Axe

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.

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