Declan O'Rourke

Declan O’Rourke
Sat 21st Nov
Guildhall
Derry
Tickets £36+bf
Doors 7.30pm / Show Starts 8pm

Declan O’Rourke’s eighth studio record , OCEANIC, is an offering shaped not only by place, but by time, memory, and return. Recorded in Sydney, the album carries a particular resonance, drawing a line between where O’Rourke first began and where he now stands as an artist.

The result is a mature record that feels expansive and dynamic — moving fluidly from groove driven meditations, to reflections of sweeping, cinematic scope. “Oceanic somehow wrote, and then made itself too. I’ve always felt that being an artist is a process of stripping away layers of yourself to get to the core. If that’s true, then Oceanic is a collection of dreams that have surfaced on their own, from among the deepest of my own layers.” - Declan O’Rourke, 2026
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Concerning depth, the breadth of time, sentiment, attachment, loss, reassurance, and light Declan O’Rourke’s eighth studio record , OCEANIC, is an offering shaped not only by place, but by time, memory, and return. Recorded in Sydney, the album carries a particular resonance, drawing a line between where O’Rourke first began and where henow stands as an artist.

At just 19, it was in Australia that O’Rourke committed his first songs to tape — glimpses of a voice that would go on to carve out a singular place in contemporary songwriting. To make a full studio album in that land decades later is more than a creative decision; it is a meaningful full circle moment, reconnecting O’Rourke with the spirit and instinct of those early days while bringing to bear the depth and clarity of experience earned since.

Oceanic was recorded with longtime friend and collaborator Jim Moginie (Midnight Oil) at the helm as co-producer. The combined palette of musical sensibilities and a twenty year history between O’Rourke and Moginie brought trust and creative freedom to the process. The result is a mature record that feels expansive and dynamic — moving fluidly from groove driven meditations, to reflections of sweeping, cinematic scope. The content itself represents a life spanning two continents and hemispheres, and the ocean of feeling between that endures within the artist.

Alongside contemporary themes, on the tides and swells of memory, songs shift from nostalgia for what was, to those displaying growth
from seeds long sewn in the past.

Following Arrivals (2021), the landmark Paul Weller-produced album that marked a high point in O’Rourke’s catalogue, Oceanic feels like a deepening exploration of emotional and sonic territory that is both immersive and fully assured; a new and exciting body of work from an artist always evolving, always curious, and ever willing to follow the current, wherever it leads.

“Oceanic somehow wrote, and then made itself too.

I’ve always felt that being an artist is a process of stripping away layers of yourself to get to the core. If that’s true, then Oceanic is a collection of dreams that have surfaced on their own, from among the deepest of my own layers.” - Declan O’Rourke, 2026

“Such a wondrous singer and musician, Dec has made something truly magical and shape shifting here, and in returning to his second home on the other side of the world to make this feels like a real homecoming.” - Jim Moginie, 2026