Ocean Tisdall – Sugar In His Tea

Ocean Tisdall pulls on my heartstrings through the soaring delivery of his latest, ‘Sugar In His Tea’. That unsuspecting title gives away nothing about the inspiration behind this heart-wrenching new release. It soars, stuns, and tumbles, makes me want to scream along at the top of my lungs.

Tisdall leaves no leaf unturned as the song gets introduced through a minimalistic soundscape stewed forward by soft piano compositions. As I listen to the song over and over again I discover a different element each time. While soft, empowering at the same time, Tisdall’s vocals and utterly open-hearted delivery are what make ‘Sugar In His Tea’ a stunning alternative pop release that never tires.

“I wrote ‘Sugar In His Tea’ kind of by accident, to be honest. I’d been with someone for two years when they asked if we could go on a break – and those two weeks of limbo felt like hell. I was a mess. At one point early on, I left the house just to get a coffee – because that’s all I could stomach – and on the walk, I started seeing him in strangers. Eventually, I flew back home to Ireland, I needed support, needed the comfort of family. I was talking to my mam and said the words, “If we do break up, the next person won’t know that he doesn’t take sugar in his tea. They don’t know all the little things I do.” I think when someone breaks up with you, people expect you to feel anger, bitterness, maybe even hatred. But for me, it wasn’t like that. I wasn’t angry, I was heartbroken, trying to make sense of why I wasn’t enough to make them stay.”

Irish artist Ocean Tisdall started making music at a very young age and credits his mom, pop culture, and a love of country music and storytelling as early inspirations, that storytelling element has certainly stuck and has been refined to perfection over the years. The past few years Ocean has been reconnecting with his passion for storytelling by stepping away from the spotlight to write deeply personal and heartfelt acoustic pop gems.

It’s brought us this sound, rich with raw emotion and unfiltered vulnerability that allows for his listeners to feel as fully, and soar as loudly, as he does. Drawing comparisons to pop artists such as Lewis Capaldi, Cian Ducrot and Tom Odell, Ocean Tisdall has worked hard to give them a run for their money, with in my humble opinion, he has succeeded at that with ‘Sugar In His Tea’. His music delivers an intimate look at the highs and lows of life, love, and self-discovery as he embodies a deeper dimension of expression. The project dishes soulful vocals paired with a beautifully minimalist, acoustic soundscape.