Neu Oceaán

: Oceaán / Oliver Caen
Based: Manchester
Listen: ‘Neéd U’
Similar to: Dornik, How To Dress Well

From Jai Paul’s mystery mixtape – stolen goods, or an in-house PR masterclass? – to the masked Zomby’s social network showboating; conjecture single-handedly keeps the whole blogosphere spinning on its axis at times. Manchester talent Oceaán is another of these ambiguous producer cum vocalist types who emerged at the end of last year, albeit with significantly less fanfare, bringing with him a deliciously gloopy take on How To Dress Well’s dexterous, introverted RnB.

But rather than cling to the few minor details we have regarding his identity, we’ll focus on the disarmingly chill music instead. Skulking along with a sparse downtempo beat and marshy synths which pool around the shady Manc’s slick pitch-shifted verses, his debut track ‘Haze’ is fragile, unembellished lo-fi at its finest, right up until the exotic pulse of hand percussion affects a change in tempo in the blistering final third.

The man himself puts his name forward as Oliver Cean - so that’s O. Cean, right? - although we reckon it’s assumed moniker and more than likely a nod to his kinda namesake, Frank, who is something of an influence judging by the trickly, caramel sweet vocal he delivers on latest cut ‘Need U’.

Backed by steadily swimming bongos and other click-clacking percussion, Oceaán’s honey-drip croons of ‘because I need you, time to start again’ evoke PMR’s recently unearthed gem, Dornik; another vocalist making big waves in the neo-soul game. More material is expected in the coming weeks and if ‘Oliver Cean’ sticks to what he does best – merging bubbly garage and slinky bass styles with his sultry tones – a similarly huge change of fate is surely just around the corner.