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Lauren DiGiovanni

Review: "Swallow the Ocean" - Olive Louise




Olive Louise’s brand new single, “Swallow the Ocean”, is here. Olive takes you deep into her psyche and exposes her fear of vulnerability with this song. She begins the song by talking about a boy, and how she can’t love him the way he deserved to be loved. She compares her mood swings to the ocean, saying “[she’s] calm, then [she’s] fierce,” and she crushes whatever is near her. In the first pre-chorus, her boyfriend is trying to navigate her shifting emotions. She says he has a “real strong grip on the right direction,” but she isn’t helping him at all. The chorus takes you under the wave when Olive says she wishes she could get rid of the ocean and sand. She wants her boyfriend to be safe “on a mountain so high,” but she can never let go. Olive in the second verse delves into how her relationship is slowly falling apart. “We’re worlds apart,” she says, but sometimes she goes back in time and feels his love again. Olive knows she wants to be with him, she “wants to make it better” but “will this last forever?” This song is crushingly relatable and makes listeners look inward and reflect on their difficulties with vulnerability.





“Swallow the Ocean” is perfectly produced to make it sound like an ocean. First, the song starts out with the sounds of crashing waves. The verses have clouded synths with an undercurrent lingering beneath the surface of the track. The pre-chorus takes a step back, with sound effects that sound similar to water dripping out of a faucet. Then, the chorus sweeps the listener under the waves into a deep, dark, mysterious ocean. The synths get louder and darker in the chorus, symbolizing Olive’s darker emotions. As the waves calm down at the end of the chorus, the question of “I don’t let go do I?” leaves listeners lying on the sand after the wave hits them.

Olive’s vocals are dreamlike, and complex riffs are sung with ease. She has stacked harmonies and punchy rhythm in a synth for most of the song. Olive’s sound in this song is similar to Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine, which is generally considered indie or contemporary.


Olive Louise grew up in Kings Point, New York, the place that inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. Olive considers her childhood dreamlike, spending her days horseback riding and sailing. She also studied piano and violin under her mother, who was the lead pianist in the Long Island Philharmonic Orchestra. Sadly, her parents tragically passed in her youth, leading her to be bounced around from guardian to guardian. But, no matter where she was, she found herself constantly writing. In 2019, she released her debut single titled “Fool.” The track was followed up with her second single “Bad Things,” which gained much attraction for its eclectic music video. Since then, Olive has steadily released singles, and released her first EP, “275 Kings Point Road,” in 2023. It’s clear that Olive has so much in store for her future, and her sheer talent and passion for music will take her to many places.


Written By Lauren DiGiovanni



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