The Wombats have issued an extended edition of their sixth studio album Oh! The Ocean, out now via AWAL Recordings, marking a significant new chapter for the Liverpool-formed trio. The expanded release broadens the musical and emotional palette of the original album, adding four additional tracks including two brand-new songs, Love You Like A Rainbow and Different Next Time.
The extended edition arrives as the band completes another creative cycle marked by high-impact touring, renewed chart visibility and continued appeal across multiple generations of fans. With more than twenty years of activity behind them, the group remains a defining force in British indie rock.
Lead vocalist and songwriter Matthew Murphy explains that several songs now included on the extended album arose during the original recording sessions, with later additions emerging during follow-up writing in the UK. Murphy notes that the new material expands the thematic and emotional backdrop of Oh! The Ocean, with tracks that he believes “complete the puzzle” and “carry the album’s world a little further.”
The album’s new focus track, Love You Like A Rainbow, is a central piece of the expanded set. Murphy describes the song as both “saccharine and demonic,” a composition shaped for his daughters yet coloured by distorted textures designed to introduce tension and mischief. The band’s other new track, Different Next Time, explores nostalgic reflection, with drummer Dan Haggis describing the blend of drum machines, filmic synths and ambient tones as a contemplative inquiry into second chances.
Producer John Congleton worked across various sessions for the extended material, further reinforcing the cohesive identity of the album’s new configuration. The previously released Holy Sugar continues to gain momentum, recently securing a place on the BBC Radio 1 playlist.
The Wombats have now launched the second leg of a major UK arena run, playing cities not included in the first part of their 2025 tour. Their earlier run featured sold-out venues across the country including London’s O2, confirming their sustained demand on the touring circuit. The updated tour dates are listed below.
The Wombats – UK Tour Dates
02 December – Edinburgh, Corn Exchange
03 December – Aberdeen, Music Hall
05 December – Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, Utilita Arena
06 December – Birmingham, England, bp pulse LIVE Arena
07 December – Bournemouth, England, Bournemouth International Centre
09 December – Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Olympia Theatre
10 December – Belfast, Northern Ireland, The Telegraph Building
11 December – Blackpool, England, Empress Ballroom
The Wombats first emerged during the late-2000s wave of British indie rock and quickly distinguished themselves with a blend of sharp songwriting, rhythmic dynamism and wry humour. Their 2007 major-label debut A Guide To Love, Loss & Desperation introduced durable singles including Let’s Dance To Joy Division, positioning them as one of the era’s dominant new acts.
Their second album This Modern Glitch (2011) pushed them further into electronic and
experimental textures, securing regular Top Ten placements and broadening their international audience. Glitterbug (2015) propelled them into a new cultural moment as Greek Tragedy became a viral phenomenon, particularly across TikTok, generating repeated waves of global attention.
By the release of Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life (2018), the group was operating comfortably in arenas, a scale further expanded by the success of their fifth studio album Fix Yourself, Not The World. That album debuted at Number One on the UK Albums Chart and pushed their career streaming totals beyond 2.5 billion.
Their sixth album Oh! The Ocean, released in February 2025, reaffirmed their longevity with more than 35 million streams to date. The new extended edition builds on that success, reinforcing the band’s creative direction as they approach the third decade of their career.
This year the trio delivered major festival sets at NOS Alive, Boardmasters, Y Not Festival and On The Waterfront, the latter marking their biggest outdoor hometown show to date in Liverpool. Audiences continued to skew toward young listeners, a trend visible during their packed appearance at Reading 2024 where they headlined the Radio 1 tent to a crowd dominated by fans aged 18 to 24.
The expanded edition of Oh! The Ocean highlights The Wombats’ ongoing drive for creative evolution. It offers an expanded understanding of the album’s emotional scope and confirms the band’s commitment to a restless, forward-looking artistic identity.
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